A theoretical description of energy spectra and two-neutron separation energies for neutron-rich zirconium isotopes

Very recently the atomic masses of neutron-rich Zr isotopes, from ⁹⁶Zr to ¹⁰⁴Zr, have been measured with high precision. Using a schematic Interacting Boson Model (IBM) Hamiltonian, the evolution from spherical to deformed shapes along the chain of Zr isotopes, describing at the same time the excitation energies as well as the two-neutron separation energies, can be rather well reproduced. The interplay between phase transitions and configuration mixing of intruder excitations in this mass region is succinctly addressed.