Shape coexistence in atomic nuclei

Shape coexistence in nuclei appears to be unique in the realm of finite many-body quantum systems. It differs from the various geometrical arrangements that sometimes occur in a molecule in that in a molecule the various arrangements are of the widely separated atomic nuclei. In nuclei the various ``arrangements'' of nucleons involve (sets of) energy eigenstates with different electric quadrupole properties such as moments and transition rates, and different distributions of proton pairs and neutron pairs with respect to their Fermi energies. Sometimes two such structures will ``invert'' as a function of the nucleon number, resulting in a sudden and dramatic change in ground-state properties in neighboring…