Nuclear Structure Aspects of DCX Reactions and β β Decay Transitions

Department of Physics, University of La Plata, and Institute of Physics (IFLP-CONICET), La Plata, Argentina

^* Corresponding author: osvaldo.civitarese@fisica.unlp.edu.ar

Published online: 7 August 2024

Abstract

The theory of Double Charge Exchange (DCX) reactions between nuclei requires both the description of the reaction mechanism, which consists of the exchange of nucleons between the target and the projectile, as well as the structure of the matrix elements of the operators which mediate the transitions. From the point of view of the nuclear structure theory it requires the use of microscopic models for light and heavy mass nuclei. The reaction sector requires the use of momentum-dependent operators. It has been argued that these matrix elements could be associated to decay channels like the neutrinoless nuclear double beta decay (0νββ)(DBD). The motivation related to this claim is the need to determine, as accurately as possible, the values of the matrix elements of operators responsible for 0νββ. We shall focus the attention on the possible relationship between DBD and DCX nuclear matrix elements, by studying the dependence of the participant operators upon the momentum.