Prolate-to-oblate shape phase transitions in neutron-rich odd-mass nuclei

We investigate the prolate-to-oblate shape phase transitions in the neutron-rich Pt, Os, and Ir nuclei in the mass A approximate to 190 region. The Hamiltonian of the interacting boson-fermion model, used to describe the odd-mass Pt185-199, Os185-193, and Ir185-195 isotopes, is partially constructed by using as a microscopic input the results of constrained self-consistent mean-field calculations within the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov method with the Gogny force. The remaining few parameters are adjusted to experimental data in the odd systems. In this way the calculations reasonably describe the spectroscopic properties of the odd-mass systems considered. Several calculated observables for the odd-mass nuclei, especially the low-energy excitation spectra and the effective deformation parameters, point to a prolate-oblate shape transition as a function of the neutron number for all the isotopic chains considered and similar to the one already observed in the neighboring even-even systems.