No Arabic abstract
We perform systematic calculations of pairing gaps in semi-magic nuclei across the nuclear chart using the Energy Density Functional method and a {it non-empirical} pairing functional derived, without further approximation, at lowest order in the two-nucleon vacuum interaction, including the Coulomb force. The correlated single-particle motion is accounted for by the SLy4 semi-empirical functional. Rather unexpectedly, both neutron and proton pairing gaps thus generated are systematically close to experimental data. Such a result further suggests that missing effects, i.e. higher partial-waves of the NN interaction, the NNN interaction and the coupling to collective fluctuations, provide an overall contribution that is sub-leading as for generating pairing gaps in nuclei. We find that including the Coulomb interaction is essential as it reduces proton pairing gaps by up to 40%.
The present contribution reports the first systematic finite-nucleus calculations performed using the Energy Density Functional method and a non-empirical pairing functional derived from low-momentum interactions. As a first step, the effects of Coulomb and the three-body force are omitted while only the bare two-nucleon interaction at lowest order is considered. To cope with the finite-range and non-locality of the bare nuclear interaction, the 1S0 channel of Vlowk is mapped onto a convenient operator form. For the first time, neutron-neutron and proton-proton pairing correlations generated in finite nuclei by the direct term of the two-nucleon interaction are characterized in a systematic manner. Eventually, such predictions are compared to those obtained from empirical local functionals derived from density-dependent zero range interactions. The characteristics of the latter are analyzed in view of that comparison and a specific modification of their isovector density dependence is suggested to accommodate Coulomb effects and the isovector trend of neutron gaps at the same time.
We study the problem of an impurity in fully polarized (spin-up) low density neutron matter with the help of an accurate quantum Monte Carlo method in conjunction with a realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction derived from chiral effective field theory at next-to-next-to-leading-order. Our calculations show that the behavior of the proton spin-down impurity is very similar to that of a polaron in a fully polarized unitary Fermi gas. We show that our results can be used to put tight constraints on the time-odd parts of the energy density functional, independent of the time-even parts, in the density regime relevant to neutron-rich nuclei and compact astrophysical objects such as neutron stars and supernovae.
The Hohenberg-Kohn theorem and the Kohn-Sham equations, which are at the basis of the Density Functional Theory, are reformulated in terms of a particular many-body density, which is translational invariant and therefore is relevant for self-bound systems. In a similar way that there is a unique relation between the one-body density and the external potential that gives rise to it, we demonstrate that there is a unique relation between that particular many-body density and a definite many-body potential. The energy is then a functional of this density and its minimization leads to the ground-state energy of the system. As a proof of principle, the analogous of the Kohn-Sham equation is solved in the specific case of $^4$He atomic clusters, to put in evidence the advantages of this new formulation in terms of physical insights.
Relativistic energy density functionals have become a standard framework for nuclear structure studies of ground-state properties and collective excitations over the entire nuclide chart. We review recent developments in modeling nuclear weak-interaction processes: charge-exchange excitations and the role of isoscalar proton-neutron pairing, charged-current neutrino-nucleus reactions relevant for supernova evolution and neutrino detectors, and calculation of beta-decay rates for r-process nucleosynthesis.
Multi-reference calculations along the lines of the Generator Coordinate Method or the restoration of broken symmetries within the nuclear Energy Density Functional (EDF) framework are becoming a standard tool in nuclear structure physics. These calculations rely on the extension of a single-reference energy functional, of the Gogny or the Skyrme types, to non-diagonal energy kernels. There is no rigorous constructive framework for this extension so far. The commonly accepted way proceeds by formal analogy with the expressions obtained when applying the generalized Wick theorem to the non-diagonal matrix element of a Hamilton operator between two product states. It is pointed out that this procedure is ill-defined when extended to EDF calculations as the generalized Wick theorem is taken outside of its range of applicability. In particular, such a procedure is responsible for the appearance of spurious divergences and steps in multi-reference EDF energies, as was recently observed in calculations restoring particle number or angular momentum. In the present work, we give a formal analysis of the origin of this problem for calculations with and without pairing, i.e. constructing the density matrices from either Slater determinants or quasi-particle vacua. We propose a correction to energy kernels that removes the divergences and steps, and which is applicable to calculations based on any symmetry restoration or generator coordinate. The method is formally illustrated for particle number restoration and is specified to configuration mixing calculations based on Slater determinants.