SU(3) quasi-dynamical symmetry as an organizational mechanism for generating nuclear rotational motions

Abstract The phenomenological symplectic model with a Davidson potential is used to construct rotational states for a rare-earth nucleus with microscopic wave functions. The energy levels and E2 transitions obtained are in remarkably close agreement (to within a few percent) with those of the rotor model with vibrational shape fluctations that are adiabatically decoupled from the rotational degrees of freedom. An analysis of the states in terms of their SU(3) content shows that SU(3) is a very poor dynamical symmetry but an excellent quasi-dynamical symmetry for the model. It is argued that such quasi-dynamical symmetry can be expected for any Hamiltonian that reproduces the observed low-energy properties of a well-deformed nucleus, whenever the latter are well-described by the nuclear rotor model.