Exotic Molecular Symmetries in Atomic Nuclei

• Irene Dedes

Room: Aula Over the past few years, there has been an increasing interest in exotic (molecular) nuclear shapes and accompanying symmetries in low energy subatomic physics, both from theory and experimental points of view. Their significance relies on the fact that they present unprecedented degeneracies in both individual-nucleonic and collective-rotation excitations, new forms of behaviour and unprecedented hindrance factors, Ref. [1]. We are going to address theoretical calculations employing realistic nuclear structure phenomenological mean-field Hamiltonian – combined with powerful mathematical tools, such as Inverse Problem Theory and Group-, and Group Representation Theories – to provide trustworthy predictions of the still unknown quantum mechanisms. Following two recent publications of the discovery of the simultaneous presence and competition of the octahedral and tetrahedral symmetries in 152Sm, Ref. [2, 3], and a third one of the first identification of C2v symmetry in 236U, Ref. [4], we will discuss the results together with the identification mechanisms of such symmetries. References [1] S. Tagami, Y. R. Shimizu, and J. Dudek, Phys. Rev. C 87, 054306 (2013) [2] J. Dudek, D. Curien, I. Dedes, K. Mazurek, S. Tagami, Y. R. Shimizu, and T. Bhattacharjee, Phys. Rev. C 97, 021302(R) (2018) [3] S. Basak, D. Kumar, T. Bhattacharjee, I. Dedes, J. Dudek, et al., Phys. Rev. C 111, 034319 (2025) [4] I. Dedes, J. Dudek, A. Baran, D. Curien, A. Góźdź, A. Maj, A. P edrak, D. Rouvel, J. Yang, Phys. Rev. C 112, 034303 (2025)