A systematical study of neutron-rich Zr isotopes by the projected shell model

To understand the structure of neutron-rich nuclei and to validate the existing theoretical model for the exotic mass region, we study systematically strongly-deformed, neutron-rich even–even and odd-mass Zr isotopes with neutron number 61–66. With the projected shell model, the known experimental data are reproduced and some low-lying side-bands are predicted. The influence of the high-j image neutron orbital and the image proton orbital on the structure properties is investigated. For even–even isotopes, the structure of multi-quasiparticle bands is analyzed and some properties of the yrast line are described in detail. For odd-neutron isotopes, the discussion is focused on the excited single-particle configurations. Our predictions may help future experiments with identification of band structures in the very neutron-rich nuclei.