Nuclear state densities of odd-mass heavy nuclei in the shell model Monte Carlo approach

The shell model Monte Carlo (SMMC) approach enables the microscopic calculation of nuclear state densities in model spaces that are many orders of magnitude larger than those that can be treated by conventional diagonalization techniques. However, it has been difficult to calculate accurate state densities of odd-mass heavy nuclei as a function of excitation energy. This is because of a sign problem that arises from the projection on an odd number of particles at low temperatures, making it difficult to calculate accurate ground-state energies of odd-mass nuclei in direct Monte Carlo calculations. Here we extract the ground-state energy from a one-parameter fit of the SMMC thermal energy to the thermal energy that is determined from experimental data. This enables us to calculate the state densities of the odd-even isotopes Sm149-155 and Nd143-149 as a function of excitation energy. We find close agreement with state densities extracted from experimental data. Our results demonstrate that the state densities of the odd-mass samarium and neodymium isotopes can be consistently reproduced using the same family of Hamiltonians that describe the neighboring even-mass isotopes within the configuration-interaction shell model approach.