Generators of collective vibrations in heavy nuclei

Solving harmonic equations of motion for a realistic single-paricle potential, the generators of various isoscalar collective vibrations up to a multipolarity of 4 are extracted. Transition strengths, transition currents, and energy systematics are studied in comparison with full RPA calculations, fluid dynamical calculations, and experimental data. It is shown that all these states can be well described by simple generators and that the influence of the detailed structure of the residual two-body force is small compared with that of the single-particle level scheme and of geometric constraints. (orig.)