N = Z nuclei: a laboratory for neutron-proton collective mode

The neutron-neutron and proton-proton pairing correlations have long been recognized to be the dominant many-body correlation beyond the nuclear mean field since the introduction of pairing mechanism by Bohr, Mottelson and Pines nearly 60 years ago. Nevertheless, few conclusions have been reached concerning the existence of analogous neutron-proton (np) pair correlated state. One can see a renaissance in np correlation studies in relation to the significant progress in radioactive ion beam facilities and detection techniques. The np pairs can couple isospin T = 1 (isovector) or 0 (isoscalar). In the isovector channel, the angular momentum zero component is expected to be the most important one. On the other hand, as one may infer from the general properties of the np two-body interaction, in the isoscalar channel, both the np pairs with minimum (J = 1) and maximum (J = 2j) spin values can be important. In this contribution, we will discuss the possible evidence for np pair coupling from a different perspective and analyze its influence on interesting phenomena including the Wigner effect and mass correlations in odd-odd nuclei. In particular, we will explain the spin-aligned pair coupling scheme and quartet coupling involving pairs with maximum (J = 2j) spin values.