Temperature-dependent particle-number projected moment of inertia

Expressions of the parallel and perpendicular temperature-dependent particle-number projected nuclear moment of inertia have been established by means of a discrete projection method. They generalize that of the FTBCS method and are well adapted to numerical computation. The effects of particle-number fluctuations have been numerically studied for some even-even actinide nuclei by using the single-particle energies and eigenstates of a deformed Woods-Saxon mean field. It has been shown that the parallel moment of inertia is practically not modified by the use of the projection method. In contrast, the discrepancy between the projected and FTBCS perpendicular moment of inertia values may reach 5%. Moreover, the particle-number fluctuation effects vary not only as a function of the temperature but also as a function of the deformation for a given temperature. This is not the case for the system energy.