β-decay in neutron-deficient Hg, Pb, and Po isotopes

The effect of nuclear deformation on the energy distributions of the Gamow-Teller strength is studied in neutron-deficient Hg, Pb, and Po even isotopes. The theoretical framework is based on a self-consistent deformed Skyrme Hartree-Fock mean field with pairing correlations between like nucleons in BCS approximation and residual spin-isospin interactions treated in the proton-neutron quasiparticle random-phase approximation. After a systematic study of the Gamow-Teller strength distributions in the low-excitation-energy region, relevant for beta(+) decay, we have identified the best candidates to look for deformation signatures in their beta(+)-decay patterns. beta(+) half-lives and total Gamow-Teller strengths B(GT(+/-)) are analyzed as well.