Pairing and nonaxial-shape correlations in $N=150$ isotones

Abstract: Background: The $K^\pi=2^-$ excited band emerges systematically in $N=150$ isotones raging from Pu to No with even-$Z$ numbers, and a sharp drop in energies was observed in Cf. Purpose: I attempt to uncover the microscopic mechanism for the appearance of such a low-energy $2^-$ state in $^{248}$Cf. Furthermore, I investigate the possible occurrence of the low-energy $K^\pi=2^+$ state to elucidate the mechanism that prefers the simultaneous breaking of the reflection and axial symmetry to the breaking of the axial symmetry alone in this mass region. Method: I employ a nuclear EDF method: the Skyrme-Kohn-Sham-Bogoliubov and the quasiparticle random-phase approximation are used to describe the ground state and the transition to excited states. Results: The Skyrme-type SkM* and SLy4 functionals reproduce the fall in energy, but not the absolute value, of the $K^\pi=2^-$ state at $Z=98$, where the proton 2qp excitation $[633]7/2 \otimes [521]3/2$ plays a decisive role for the peculiar isotonic dependence. I find interweaving roles by the pairing correlation of protons and the deformed shell closure at $Z=98$. The SkM* model predicts the $K^\pi=2^-$ state appears lower in energy in $^{246}$Cf than in $^{248}$Cf as the Fermi level of neutrons is located in between the $[622]5/2$ and $[734]9/2$ orbitals. Except for $^{250}$Fm in the SkM* calculation, the $K^\pi=2^+$ state is predicted to appear higher in energy than the $K^\pi=2^-$ state because the quasi-proton $[521]1/2$ orbital is located above the $[633]7/2$ orbital. Conclusions: A systematic study of low-lying collective states in heavy actinide nuclei provides a rigorous testing ground for microscopic nuclear models. The present study shows a need for improvements in the EDFs to describe pairing correlations and shell structures in heavy nuclei, that are indispensable in predicting the heaviest nuclei.