New aspects in the decay of quasi-stationary proton states by multidimensional tunneling

The time evolution of single proton quasi-stationary states emitted from axially deformed nuclei is studied by solving numerically the two-dimensional time dependent Schrödinger equation. Angular distributions of emission with respect to the nuclear axis of symmetry are obtained. It is shown that the main escape paths are determined by the quantum numbers of the metastable state, rather than by the deformation of the potential. Combinations of such numerical studies of multidimensional quantum tunneling and angular distribution measurements from oriented deformed nuclei could provide invaluable nuclear structure information and imaging of Nilsson orbitals.