Shell model description of isotope shifts in calcium

Isotope shifts in the nuclear charge radius of even and odd calcium isotopes are calculated within the nuclear shell model. The model space includes all configurations of nucleons in the 2s, 1d3/2, 1f7/2 and 2p3/2 orbits. The shell model describes well the energies of the intruder states in Sc and Ca, as well as the energies of the low-lying 2+ and 3− states in the even Ca isotopes. The characteristic features of the isotope shifts, the parabolic dependence on A and the prominent odd-even staggering, are well reproduced by the model. These features are related to the partial breakdown of the Z=20 shell closure caused by promotion, due to the neutron–proton interaction, of the ds shell protons into the fp shell.