SEMICLASSICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SUPERSHELL EFFECT IN REFLECTION-ASYMMETRIC SUPERDEFORMED OSCILLATOR

An oscillatory pattern in the smoothed quantum spectrum, which is unique to single-particle motions in a reflection-asymmetric superdeformed oscillator potential, is investigated by means of the semiclassical theory of shell structure. Clear correspondence between the oscillating components of the smoothed level density and the classical periodic orbits is found. It is shown that an interference effect between two families of the short periodic orbits, called supershell effect, becomes more significant with increasing reflection-asymmetric deformations. Possible origins of this enhancement phenomena as well as quantum signatures of period-multipling bifurcations are discussed in connection with stabilities of the classical periodic orbits.