Neutron-proton correlations in an exactly solvable model

We examine isovector and isoscalar neutron-proton correlations in an exactly solvable model based on the algebra SO(8). We look particularly closely at Gamow-Teller strength and double β decay, both to isolate the effects of the two kinds of pairing and to test two approximation schemes: the renormalized neutron-proton quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA) and generalized BCS theory. When isoscalar pairing correlations become strong enough a phase transition occurs and the dependence of the Gamow-Teller β⁺ strength on isospin changes in a dramatic and unfamiliar way, actually increasing as neutrons are added to an $N=Z$ core. Renormalization eliminates the well-known instabilities that plague the QRPA as the phase transition is approached, but only by unnaturally suppressing the isoscalar correlations. Generalized BCS theory, on the other hand, reproduces the Gamow-Teller strength more accurately in the isoscalar phase than in the usual isovector phase, even though its predictions for energies are equally good everywhere. It also mixes $T=0$ and $T=1$ pairing, but only on the isoscalar side of the phase transition.