Impact of emergent symmetries on the lifetimes of light nuclei

Approximate symmetries emerge in ab initio predictions of light nuclei, for which the only input is the inter-nucleon interaction.  These symmetries include Elliott's SU(3) symmetry, which is associated with nuclear collective behavior and deformation, and Wigner's SU(4) symmetry, related to spin and isospin degrees of freedom.  The emergence of these symmetries can significantly impact electroweak transition rates and thus the lifetimes of nuclei.  This impact can be understood in terms of approximate selection rules associated with these symmetries.  

Of particular interest is the effect of these approximate selection rules on weakly bound nuclei, like the halo nucleus 11Be. In this talk, I will discuss the emergence of Elliott’s SU(3) symmetry and Wigner’s SU(4) symmetry in ab initio no-core shell model predictions for A=11 nuclei and the effects of these symmetries on beta decay and electromagnetic transitions along this isobaric chain.