Shell model Monte Carlo investigation of rare earth nuclei

We utilize the shell model Monte Carlo method to study the structure of rare earth nuclei. This work demonstrates the first systematic full oscillator shell with intruder calculations in such heavy nuclei. Exact solutions of a pairing plus quadrupole Hamiltonian are compared with the static path approximation in several dysprosium isotopes from A=152 to 162, including the odd mass A=153. Some comparisons are also made with Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov results from Baranger and Kumar. Basic properties of these nuclei at various temperatures and spin are explored. These include energy, deformation, moments of inertia, pairing channel strengths, band crossing, and evolution of shell model occupation numbers. Exact level densities are also calculated and, in the case of 162Dy, compared with experimental data.