280

Nuclear Instruments and Methods m Physics Research A271 (1988) 280-285

North-Holland, Amsterdam

SHELL-MODEL STUDY OF THE FIRST FORBIDDEN

AND SOLAR NEUTRINO DETECTION
K. OGAWA * and K. ARITA
Institute for Nuclear Study, University

of Tokyo,

Tokyo 188,

205,n

~ 205 Pb TRANSITION

Japan

The first forbidden beta transitions from 205T1 to low-lying states m 205 Pb, which are induced by capturing very low-energy
neutrinos, are investigated theoretically . A result of a tentative calculation is presented . Several problems m shell-model calculations
of these nuclei and in the evaluation of the beta matrix elements are discussed towards a more quantitative prediction .
1. Introduction
Recently the feasibility of the detection of solar
neutrinos using 205 T1 became an important subject to
neutrino physics [1]. By absorbing a neutrino, a stable
20'T1 nucleus can be transformed into a 205Ph nucleus.
Since the difference to atomic mass between 205T1 and
205pb is very small, i.e. about 54 keV [21, the observation
of the reaction 205 T1(v, e- )205 Pb is expected to give us
important information related to very low-energy solar
neutrinos from the hydrogen burning process,
p+p-d+e + +v+430keV.

(1)

The beta transitions from the J = 1/2 + ground state of

205TI to low-lying states in 205Ph are associated with
parity change (see fig. 1) . Such beta transitions with
spin changes of 4J=0, 1 and 2 are classified as first
forbidden beta transitions. Generally the first forbidden
transition with AJ = 2, which is called the unique first
forbidden transition, is very small. In fact the life time
of the beta decay from 205 Pb, i.e. 205 Pb(5/2 - ) _ 205
Tl(1/2 +), is very long . Therefore the most probable
transition from 205TI(1/2+)gs induced by the absorption of a low energy neutrino is expected to the first
exited J = 1/2 - state in 205 Pb (at an excitation energy
of 2 keV) . However, there are no experimental data on
the transition probabilities of the 205 T1(1/2 + ) 205 Pb(1/2 -) process nor its inverse. Thus theoretical
calculations with high precision are highly needed . In
this talk we will mention the shell-model approach to
this transition probability . In section 2 we show some
problems in shell-model calculations for 205T1 and 205Ph .
How to calculate the transition probability is described
in section 3. The effect of core polarization is discussed
* Present address: Laboratory of Physics, Kanto Gakum
University, Yokohama 236, Japan .
"* Dept . of Physics, Aoyama Gakum University, Clutosedai,
Setagaya, Tokyo 157, Japan.
0168-9002/88/$03 .50 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V .
(North-Holland Physics Publishing Division)

tosT

205

Pb

Fig. 1 . Possible beta transitions from 205 T1 induced by capturing neutrinos. The solid lines indicate the first forbidden
transitions (dJ=0, 1 or 2 with panty change) to low-lying
negative-parity states m 205 Ph . The dashed line indicates
another possibility, Gamow-Teller transitions (dJ=0 or 1
without panty change) to highly excited positive-parity states
with J=1/2 + and 3/2 +.
to section 4. The transition probabilities estimated with
tentative parameters are presented and discussed to
section 5 .
2. Shell model description of low-lying states in 205,1
and 25Pb
Nuclei around 20sPh, which is a good doubly magic
nucleus (Z = 82 and N = 126) are well studied by the
shell model . As is shown in fig. 2, single hole levels as
well as single particle levels are experimentally established both for protons and neutrons [3]. Due to the
large energy gaps between the proton 2s,/2 and Oh9/2
orbits and the neutron 2pt/2 and 199/2 orbits, the
low-lying states of the 205TI nucleus are described with

K Ogawa, K Arita / Shell-model study of thefirstforbidden 205T1 --> 2ospb transition

2P112

-0175

2P32

-0691

2d32
19712
35,z

-1 395
-1 441

lfsrz

-0985

01,srz
01,i/2

-10
-2 509
- 3 156

0113/2

- 2 198

19912

-3937

1fn2

-2907

Oh9/2

-3799

Sit

343

1
1

421

25,n

1 -801

1 d3/z

-836

Oh,v2

-935

ldsrz

-968

092/2

-1149

2P,,2

1 -7368

1fsrz

-7 938

2P3/2

-8265

1f7/2

-9707

Oha/z

-1080

0113/2

_9001

proton
neutron
Fig. 2 . Single-particle orbits in the region of z08 Pb . Single

particle energies (in MeV) are taken from ref. [3] and the
energy gaps are evaluated from the binding energies [2] of
nuclei with A = 207, 208 and 209.
the hole configuration of (2s1/2 , 1d3/2, Oh11/z, 1 d5/2,
097/2)p x (2P1/2, 1f5/2, 21?3/2 , Oil 3/2 , 1 f7/2, Oh 9/2)n
For example, the J = 1/2 + ground state of 205 TI has a
wave function like
1

1.

zo5TI(1/2+)gs=a1

si/2Pl/z(0)~ +a2 si/zf5/z(0)~

Similarly the J= 1/2- states in 2o5Ph are described by

wave functions like
zos pb(1/2 - ) =61

Pm/zf5/z(0)~ +b2~pi/2P3 /z(0)%

+ .. ..

(3)

The amplitudes a, and b, are determined by the shellmodel Hamiltonian,

H = Hsp p + H P n + Vpp + Vnn + Vpn ,

where H P and V are the single particle energies and the

effective two-body interactions. The single particle (hole)
energies are taken from the spectra of 207 TI and 2o7Ph
[3]. For two-body interactions, 206 Hg, 206 Pb and 206 T1
are reference nuclei for Vpp , Vnn and Vpn . One of the
standard techniques to define the two-body part of the
Hamiltonian is to fix the potential parameter of the
two-body interaction so as to reproduce the spectra of
the reference nuclei . The papers by Hughes, Snow and

281

Pinkston [4], by True [5] and by Ma and True [6] are

concerned with such fitting. In these papers, the different combinations of the conventional two-body potentials are assumed, i.e . central or central plus tensor,
central plus P2 and central plus PZ + P3 forces respectively .
Another approach to define the two-body interaction
has been carried out with the realistic nucleon-nucleon
forces [7].
For 206 Hg and 206Ph, various sets of two-body interactions reproduce their spectra equally well . However, it
must be noted that the spectrum of 206 TI is not reproduced by the conventional interaction above (see fig. 3) .
Hughes et al. [4] tried to reproduce the 206+1 spectrum
by changing the strength of the tensor force. Ma and
True [6] varied the strengths of the central plus P2 and
P3 forces so as to obtain agreement with experiment .
Neither of these results is satisfactory . A doublet of
J = 2- and 1 - around 30 keV above the J = 0 - ground
state cannot be reproduced . Also in Kuo-Herling's
calculation [7] the J = 1 - state is predicted close to the
J = 0- state. According to the single-hole structure
shown in fig. 2, the lowest configuration in 206 T1 is
and the second lowest one is
I(2S 1/2)p 1(2 P1/2)n
I (ld 3/2) P 1(2p 1/2) n 1). Therefore, if one assumed weak
proton-neutron interaction, J = 0- and 1 - states would
appear as a doublet and at 350 keV above it the
(1d3/2)P 1 ( 2 pm/2)n l ) multipets, i.e . J=1 - and 2levels would be expected . However, the established spin
assignment for low-lying levels in 206+1 indicates a
situation which is completely different from the weak
p-n interaction limit . Furthermore it suggests a strong
J dependence of the p-n matrix <2s1/2 2 p1/2 I Vpn I
2s1/22p1/2)1 which cannot be reproduced even by the
strong monopole plus quadrupole forces for the proton-neutron interactions .
A tentative result of our calculations, in which the
low-lying spectra of 2o6Pb, 206 Hg and 206 TI are fitted
with the central + LS forces is included in fig. 3. The
CLS-1 force is fitted with a constant weight for every
low-lying level and the CLS-2 force is derived with
enhanced weight for the J=(1 - )1 level in the fitting.
Fig . 3 shows that with a CLS-2 force which contains a
strong LS force one can reproduce a doublet of the
J = 1 - and 2- levels . However, the second doublet of
the J = 1 - and 2 - is not reproduced well by this CLS-2.
Therefore more effort should be devoted to getting
satisfactory agreement. The result of the CLS-1 force,
which contains a weak LS force, is similar to the ones
by Kuo and Herling [7] and by Ma and True [6].
The calculated spectra of 205 TI with the various
effective proton-neutron interactions are shown in fig.
4. The CLS-1 interaction as well as the one of Ma and
True [6] reproduce the observed spectrum of 205 TI
satisfactorily . On the other hand, the CLS-2 interaction
which has been determined so as to reproduce the first
I)

III. TRANSITION PROBABILITIES

K Ogawa, K Arna / Shell-model study of the firstforbidden 21, 'T1 _ 205Pb transition

282

-MeV
-

206

0-

T[

10

05
2

0EXP

K-H(2)

Ma-True

CLS-1

CLS-2

Fig 3 Comparison of experimental energy levels of 206T1 with the calculated ones with various effective interactions .

J= 1 - -2 -

206

doublet in
TI provides a quenched spectrum of 205 TI. Furthermore, if one uses the CLS-2 force
for 205 Hg, the J= 1/2 - state is not reproduced as the
ground state. The J = 1/2 - ground state is obtained by

3. Transition probabilities

Thus at the moment we do not get the effective

proton-neutron interaction which explains both spectra
of 206 TI and 205T1 consistently . In the following we will

Using the resultant wave functions of the J= 1/2 +

ground state in 205 TI and of the low-lying states in
205 Pb,
we can estimate the probabilities of the first

the Ma-True interaction and also by the

CLS-1

force.

mainly refer to the calculated results with Ma-True and

CLS-1, though these interactions do not well reproduce
the spectrum of 206 T1 .

MeV

205T1

Hereafter we estimate the transition probabilities of

the first forbidden beta process from 20-5T1 (J=1/2+)
to the low-lying states in 205 Ph .

Table 1
One-body density matrix D(JP, Jn)k for 205T1(1/2+ )8, y
205 pb(1/2 - )1. One-body density
matrices D(JP, Jn)k defined
in e(5rlltd
q . ) ae cacuaewite
th hfbd
wave unctions otain
by
Ma-True [6], CLS-1 and CLS-2 interactions
Jn

Ma-True

CLS-1

CLS-2

sl/2
d3/2
d5/2
92/2

Pl/2
P3/2
f5/2
f7/2

0.46
0.04
-0 .10
0.00

0.52
0.03
-0 .07
0 .00

0.54
-0 .06
-0.06
-0.00

sl/2
sl/2
d3/2
d 3/2
d3/2
d5/2
d 5/2
d5/2
97/2
97/2
97/2
h11/2

P1/2
P3/2
P1/2
fs/2
P3/2
fs/2
P3/2
f2/2
fs/2
f7/2
h 9/2
113/2

0.46
0.01
-0 .00
-0 .12
-0 .02
-0 .07
-0 .01
0.00
0 .00
-0 .00
-0.00
0.00

0.52
0.02
0.00
-0 .09
-0 .02
-0 .05
-0 .02
0.00
000
-0 .00
-0.01
0.00

0.54
0.08
0.00
-0 .03
0.03
-0 .03
0.05
0.00
0.00
-0 .00
-0 .00
0.00

JP
10

(7l2)'

05

312'
1/2'
EXP

k=1

111,1
i

5/2*

k=0

Ma True

CLS-1

CLS-2

Fig. 4. Comparison of experimental energy levels of 205T1 with

the calculated ones using the Ma-True interaction [6], CLS-1
and CLS-2 interactions .

K Ogawa, K Arita / Shell-model study of the first forbidden 205TI _ 2SPb transition

forbidden beta transitions. The reduced matrix element

is generally expanded as
/205Pb(Jf ) Nqk 205 TI/ J= I/2 + ))
\
II
II
I

_ 1, D(jp, jn)k` jPIIk Iljn>>

ip,i .

where D(JP, Jn)k is the one-body transition density

and (JP II f'
k II Jn) is a single-particle reduced matrix
element of the transition operator with multipolarity
k(k = 0, 1 and 2) . The one-body transition densities are
determined essentially by the nuclear Hamiltonian eq .
(4), i.e. by the strong interactions . On the other hand
the single-particle reduced matrix elements are derived
by the weak interaction theory. Therefore these two
quantities are evaluated almost independently. The discussions in the previous section are related to the former
quantity D(J P , Jn)k . The one-body densities calculated
with the different effective interactions are shown in
table 1 for the case of 205 T1(J= 1/2 +)gs - 205 Pb(J =
1/2 -)1. As table 1 shows, the largest one is D(jp =
2si/2, Jn = 2pi/2)k, which concerns primarily a
transition from the Is1/2f5j2(0)) component in 25 T1 to
the Ipi zf52(0)> component of 2S Pb, though the
Is~/2f52(0)) component is not the main one in the
ground state of 205 T1 . Similar values of D(si/2, P1/2)
are predicted both by Ma-True interactions and the
CLS-1 force.
As is well known the effective beta decay Hamiltonian is described as a product of nuclear and lepton
currents, each of which consists of vector and axial
vector terms. Here we calculate the transition matrix
elements in the traditional theory of beta decay [8].
According to this theory, the nuclear operators of the
first forbidden transition k are given as :
k=0- -

_3

283

very strong. We take into account this effect by the

method of Behrens and Bhrmg [9].
4. Core-polarization effect
So far we have considered the low-lying states in
terms of hole configurations in the 208 Pb core and have
not taken into account particle-hole excitations . This
restriction may be valid for the calculation of level
energies, because the closed shell of 208 Pb is very stable
and the mixing probability of core excited configurations is too small to affect the low-energy spectrum of
each nucleus. There are, however, special types of coreexcited states, mixing of which contributes to the beta
decay very much, as illustrated in fig. 5 .
The admixture in TI(Pb) can decay directly to (from)
the leading component of Pb (TI) as shown in the figure
and, therefore, contributes to the total decay rate linearly with respect to the mixing amplitude. While the
number of particle-hole pairs (/P tln) belonging to this
type is only two in TI, i.e . (hii /1 2in/2) and (hii1/299/2),
many pairs
JP) can be counted in Pb. Furthermore,
these admixtures contribute to the decay generally with
a definite sign and thus give rise to an important effect
which is called the core-polanzation effect . In the following we include this effect in the evaluation of the
single-particle reduced matrix elements (JP 11 k II Jn)5. Preliminary results and discussion
In total, sixteen single particle matrix elements
k
(JP II
II Jn) are concerned with the evaluation of the

_SA

477 gv

J=1/2'

y-[M(p,X .,),0)+i4(r,Xa,~ ( c)Jt`,

r

J=1/2 -

k-i = 1 E[ 1p,+i~r,+iy2 gA (r,Xaj(l) lt~

8v
4ir , M
k=2 =

3 SA
_
41 8v ,

(r X a

)(2)t,

'

where we use the units h = c = me = 1 . a r, and p, are

Pauli spin, position and momentum vectors of the t th
nucleon of mass M and 2~=Ze 2/R is the magnitude
of the Coulomb energy of an electron at nuclear radius
R . The ratio of the coupling constants of axial vectorand vector-currents, 9A/9V1 is taken as -1 .23. The
operators V3
_ (p X a)(o)/M and -p/M are obtained by
the nonrelativistic replacement of y5 and a. Since the
nuclei we are calculating are of high atomic numbers,
the Coulomb final state interaction of an electron is

Fig. 5. Core-polanzation effect in beta decay from the J =1/2 +

state m TI to the 1/2 - state in Pb . Black and open circles
show a particle and a hole, respectively, occupying single-particle orbits of the 208 Pb core .
III. TRANSITION PROBABILITIES

284

K. Ogawa, K Arita / Shell-model study of the first forbidden

transition probability from 205 +1(1/2+) to 205 Pb(1/2 - )

Among them, the calculated values of (pi~z 11,6`011
I2>'
(Pi~2II k- ' Ilsij2) and (p3//z 11,8 k- ' 11 s1 ,/!2) are
S/1_
shown in table 2. The values of DBR-exp are best fitted
values to the measured life-times of nuclei around 208 Pb
by Damgaard, Broglia and Riedel [10] . They have also
calculated the matrix elements with the Woods-Saxon
wave functions taking into account Coulomb correction
but without the core-polarization effect . These values
are also given in the table (DBR-th). The values of
Calc-1 and Calc-2 are obtained by the present calculations . Calc-1 are single-particle matrix elements calculated with the harmonic oscillator wave function. The
values of Calc-2 are obtained by including contributions
from core polarization . It is notable that the effect of
core polarization is relatively large and changes even the
sign of the Calc-1 matrix elements . Since the amount of
contributions from core polarization depends strongly
on the two-body interactions adopted, a more careful
selection should be done to get conclusive values. The
values shown in table 2 (Calc-2) are calculated with a
central potential with the CAL exchange mixture determined by Gillet et al . [ll] . Using these tentative
values of On 1 II Rk
' II JP 1 ), we can estimate the transition probabilities of several first forbidden beta
processes around the 208 Pb region .
Our preliminary results of the log fot values (the log
fi t values for the unique forbidden case) are shown in
table 3 . Here, ft and fi t values (in s) are given by
retaining the dominant terms as
jot
and
f't

6250/47
B(k=0)+B(k=1)'
56250/47
B(k=2)

where
B(k)

(JfII k

'~
IlJ I2/(2J,+1) .

(8)

From table 3, one may notice again that the inclusion of the core-polarization effect (Calc-2) is important
and generally gives better agreement with the experi-

205T1

Ph transition

_ 205

Table 3
The preliminary results of the calculated log ft values of the
first forbidden beta transitions between nuclei near 205 T1 are
shown and compared with experimental values
Initial
207TI(I/2+ )
206 Hg(0

+)

206-1(0- )
205 Hg(l/2 )
205 +1(1/2' )
205 Pb(5/2 - )

Final
207 Pb(1/2 -)
207P6/2- )
206 +1(0 - )
206 Tl(I
206 Pb(0 +
)
205TI(1/2+ )
205 Pb(1 /2 - )~
205 Pb(1 /2 - ) 2
205 Pb(3/2 - )
205 +1(1/2 + ) i

Exp

5 .11
6.23
5.42
5.22
5.18
527

11 .78

Calc-1
4.81
4.78
5 .54
4.30
5 .57
4.90
5.90
6.25
5.00
15 .7

Calc-2

4.91
6.36
5 .38
5 .00
5 .40
5.11
6.03
6.23
6.72
105

ment than Cale-1 does . A rather quenched transition

probability for 205 +1(1/2 + ) , 205 Pb (1/2 -), is obtained (log f0 t = 6.03) . Slightly smaller values of log ft
= 5 .4-5 .8 have been predicted by Kurath [12] for this
transition . In the present calculation the quenching is
not only due to a small a2 amplitude in eq. (2) but also
due to cancellation among terms in eq . (5). It is mentioned here that the transition probability B(k) depends sensitively on the effective two-body interactions.
If we adopt the one-body density matrix D(JP , Jn)k
obtained with the CLS-2 interaction, the predicted ft
value becomes smaller as log jo t = 5.63. And it becomes
even smaller (down to 5 .3) if the COP potential [11] is
adopted for the core-polarizing interaction .
For a more quantitative prediction, the harmonic
oscillator wave function should be replaced by more
realistic ones which are calculated with the WoodsSaxon potential. The replacement changes the radial
matrix elements of r and p in the terms of eq . (6),
contributions of which usually cancel each other. Consequently the total matrix element is considerably affected, even if the change in each term is relatively
small .
The impulse approximation has been assumed for
the nuclear weak current in the present calculation . We
should, however, include the contribution from the

Table 2
Single-particle matrix elements . Three single-particle reduced matrix elements (Jn 111 k II IP' ) obtained phenomenologcally
(DBR-exp) [9] and theoretically (DBR-th [9], Calc-1 and Cale-2) are shown. Cale-l and Calc-2 are the results of the present
calculation without and with core-polarization effects
DBR-exp
DBR-th
Calc-1
Calc-2

(P1/2Il/3k-0 11si/2)
0.062
0.001
-0 .041
0 .049

(P,j211 k-i llsi/2)

0.063
0.143
0.117
0.085

(P3/211 k- 'llsi/2)
-0 .018
-0 .022
0 124
-0 .021

K. Ogawa, K Anta / Shell-model study of the first forbidden 205T1 _ 205Pb transition
one-pion exchange process [13] in the time component
of the axial vector current as well as in the space

References

component of the vector current.

A more careful treatment of the Coulomb interac-

tion is also highly required since in our problem an

electron with very low momentum is emitted in a strong
Coulomb field.

As far as our tentative calculation concerns the first

forbidden beta transition from 205 T1(1/2 + ) to

205 Pb(1/2
- ) seems to be highly hindered transition .
Cancellation of matrix elements occurs among those of

[4]
[51
[6]
f7l

different operators as well as among those of mixed

configurations . This suggests that the terms neglected in
the derivation of eq . (7) may also contribute to the
transition . To get more precise values, we should take
into account the above-mentioned effects in the nuclear
structure (more reliable two-body interactions and re-

alistic single-particle wave functions) with an improved

beta decay theory . Furthermore, to extract a quantitative value of the solar neutrino capture rate of 205 Th, the
Gamow-Teller transitions to highly excited states in
205 Pb
must be added to the results of the first forbidden
transitions.

285

[ll]
[12]

[13]

M.S . Freedman, BNL Report 50879.

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(1966) 129.
WW True, Phys. Rev. 168 (1968) 1388 .
C.W . Ma and W.W . True, Phys. Rev. C8 (1973) 2313 .
T.T .S . Kuo and G.H . Herling, NRL Memorandum Report
2258 (1971) .
For example, see A. Bohr and B. Mottelson, Nuclear
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H. Behrens and W. Biihrmg, Nucl. Phys . A162 (1971) 111.
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(1969) 310.
V. Gillet, A.M . Green and E.A . Sanderson, Nucl . Phys . 88
(1966) 321 .
Quoted by M.S . Freedman, Proc . Workshop on the Feasibility of the Solar Neutrino Detection with 205Ph by
Geochemical and Accelerator Mass Spectroscopy Measurements, Miinchen (1985) ed . E. Nolte, GSI-report 86-9 .
K. Kubodera, J. Delorme and M. Rho, Phys. Rev. Lett . 40
(1978) 755.

III. TRANSITION PROBABILITIES