Microscopic description of octupole shape-phase transitions in light actinide and rare-earth nuclei

A systematic analysis of low-lying quadrupole and octupole collective states is presented based on the microscopic energy density functional framework. By mapping the deformation constrained self-consistent axially symmetric mean-field energy surfaces onto the equivalent Hamiltonian of the sdf interacting boson model (IBM), that is, onto the energy expectation value in the boson condensate state, the Hamiltonian parameters are determined. The study is based on the global relativistic energy density functional DD-PC1. The resulting IBM Hamiltonian is used to calculate excitation spectra and transition rates for the positive- and negative-parity collective states in four isotopic chains characteristic for two regions of octupole deformation and collectivity: Th, Ra, Sm, and Ba. Consistent with the empirical trend, the microscopic calculation based on the systematics of β_2-β_3 energy maps, the resulting low-lying negative-parity bands and transition rates show evidence of a shape transition between stable octupole deformation and octupole vibrations characteristic for β3-soft potentials