Theoretical studies of low-lying dipole strength in even-even spherical nuclei within the relativistic quasiparticle time blocking approximation (RQTBA) are presented. The RQTBA developed recently as an extension of the self-consistent relativistic quasiparticle random-phase approximation (RQRPA) enables one to investigate the effects of the coupling of two-quasiparticle excitations to collective vibrations within a fully consistent calculation scheme based on covariant energy density functional theory. Dipole spectra of even-even ${}^{130}\mathrm{Sn}\text{−}{}^{140}\mathrm{Sn}$ and ${}^{68}\mathrm{Ni}\text{−}{}^{78}\mathrm{Ni}$ isotopes calculated within both RQRPA and RQTBA show two well-separated collective structures: the higher lying giant dipole resonance and the lower lying pygmy dipole resonance, which can be identified by the different behavior of the transition densities of states in these regions.

• Received 6 November 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.79.054312