Evolution of the pygmy dipole resonance in nuclei with neutron excess

The electric dipole excitation of various nuclei is calculated with a Random Phase Approximation phenomenological approach. The evolution of the strength distribution in various groups of isotopes of oxygen, calcium, zirconium, and tin is studied. The neutron excess produces E1 strength in the low-energy region. Indexes to measure the collectivity of the excitation are defined. We studied the behavior of proton and neutron transition densities to determine the isoscalar or isovector nature of the excitation. We observed that in medium-heavy nuclei the low-energy E1 excitation has characteristics rather different than those exhibited by the giant dipole resonance. This new type of excitation can be identified as a pygmy dipole resonance.