Low-momentum ring diagrams of neutron matter at and near the unitary limit

We study neutron matter at and near the unitary limit using a low-momentum ring diagram approach. By slightly tuning the meson-exchange CD-Bonn potential, neutron-neutron potentials with various $^1S_0$ scattering lengths such as $a_s=-12070fm$ and $+21fm$ are constructed. Such potentials are renormalized with rigorous procedures to give the corresponding $a_s$-equivalent low-momentum potentials $V_{low-k}$, with which the low-momentum particle-particle hole-hole ring diagrams are summed up to all orders, giving the ground state energy $E_0$ of neutron matter for various scattering lengths. At the limit of $a_s\to \pm \infty$, our calculated ratio of $E_0$ to that of the non-interacting case is found remarkably close to a constant of 0.44 over a wide range of Fermi-momenta. This result reveals an universality that is well consistent with the recent experimental and Monte-Carlo computational study on low-density cold Fermi gas at the unitary limit. The overall behavior of this ratio obtained with various scattering lengths is presented and discussed. Ring-diagram results obtained with $V_{low-k}$ and those with $G$-matrix interactions are compared.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Low Momentum Nucleon-Nucleon Interactions and Shell-Model Calculations

In the last few years, the low-momentum nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction V-low-k derived from free-space NN potentials has been successfully used in shell-model calculations. V-low-k is a smooth potential which preserves the deuteron binding energy as well as the half-on-shell T-matrix of the original NN potential up to a momentum cutoff Lambda. In this paper we put to the test a new low-momentum NN potential derived from chiral perturbation theory at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order with a sharp low-momentum cutoff at 2.1 fm-1. Shell-model calculations for the oxygen isotopes using effective hamiltonians derived from both types of low-momentum potential are performed. We find that the two potentials show the same perturbative behavior and yield very similar results.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Physical Review

Violation of the Ikeda sum rule and the self-consistency in the renormalized quasiparticle random phase approximation and the nuclear double-beta decay

The effect of the inclusion of ground state correlations into the QRPA equation of motion for the two-neutrino double beta ($\beta\beta_{2\nu}$) decay is carefully analyzed. The resulting model, called renormalized QRPA (RQRPA), does not collapse near the physical value of the nuclear force strength in the particle-particle channel, as happens with the ordinary QRPA. Still, the $\beta\beta_{2\nu}$ transition amplitude is only slightly less sensitive on this parameter in the RQRPA than that in the plain QRPA. It is argued that this fact reveals once more that the characteristic behaviour of the $\beta\beta_{2\nu}$ transition amplitude within the QRPA is not an artifact of the model, but a consequence of the partial restoration of the spin-isospin $SU(4)$ symmetry. It is shown that the price paid for bypassing the collapse in the RQRPA is the violation of the Ikeda sum rule.Comment: 16 pages, latex, 3 postscript figure

Suppression of core polarization in halo nuclei

We present a microscopic study of halo nuclei, starting from the Paris and Bonn potentials and employing a two-frequency shell model approach. It is found that the core-polarization effect is dramatically suppressed in such nuclei. Consequently the effective interaction for halo nucleons is almost entirely given by the bare G-matrix alone, which presently can be evaluated with a high degree of accuracy. The experimental pairing energies between the two halo neutrons in $^6$He and $^{11}$Li nuclei are satisfactorily reproduced by our calculation. It is suggested that the fundamental nucleon-nucleon interaction can be probed in a clearer and more direct way in halo nuclei than in ordinary nuclei.Comment: 11 pages, RevTex, 2 postscript figures; major revisions, matches version to appear in Phys. Rev. Letter

Unitarity potentials and neutron matter at the unitary limit

We study the equation of state of neutron matter using a family of unitarity potentials all of which are constructed to have infinite $^1S_0$ scattering lengths $a_s$. For such system, a quantity of much interest is the ratio $\xi=E_0/E_0^{free}$ where $E_0$ is the true ground-state energy of the system, and $E_0^{free}$ is that for the non-interacting system. In the limit of $a_s\to \pm \infty$, often referred to as the unitary limit, this ratio is expected to approach a universal constant, namely $\xi\sim 0.44(1)$. In the present work we calculate this ratio $\xi$ using a family of hard-core square-well potentials whose $a_s$ can be exactly obtained, thus enabling us to have many potentials of different ranges and strengths, all with infinite $a_s$. We have also calculated $\xi$ using a unitarity CDBonn potential obtained by slightly scaling its meson parameters. The ratios $\xi$ given by these different unitarity potentials are all close to each other and also remarkably close to 0.44, suggesting that the above ratio $\xi$ is indifferent to the details of the underlying interactions as long as they have infinite scattering length. A sum-rule and scaling constraint for the renormalized low-momentum interaction in neutron matter at the unitary limit is discussed.Comment: 7.5 pages, 7 figure

Low momentum nucleon-nucleon potential and shell model effective interactions

A low momentum nucleon-nucleon (NN) potential V-low-k is derived from meson exhange potentials by integrating out the model dependent high momentum modes of V_NN. The smooth and approximately unique V-low-k is used as input for shell model calculations instead of the usual Brueckner G matrix. Such an approach eliminates the nuclear mass dependence of the input interaction one finds in the G matrix approach, allowing the same input interaction to be used in different nuclear regions. Shell model calculations of 18O, 134Te and 135I using the same input V-low-k have been performed. For cut-off momentum Lambda in the vicinity of 2 fm-1, our calculated low-lying spectra for these nuclei are in good agreement with experiments, and are weakly dependent on Lambda.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Development of the ALMA-North America Sideband-Separating SIS Mixers

As the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) nears completion, 73 dual-polarization receivers have been delivered for each of Bands 3 (84-116 GHz) and 6 (211-275 GHz). The receivers use sideband-separating superconducting Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb tunnel-junction (SIS) mixers, developed for ALMA to suppress atmospheric noise in the image band. The mixers were designed taking into account dynamic range, input return loss, and signal-to-image conversion (which can be significant in SIS mixers). Typical SSB receiver noise temperatures in Bands 3 and 6 are 30 K and 60 K, resp., and the image rejection is typically 15 dB.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., June 2013. 10 pages, 21 figure

Temperature dependence of the excitation spectrum in the charge-density-wave ErTe3_3 and HoTe3_3 systems

We provide optical reflectivity data collected over a broad spectral range and as a function of temperature on the ErTe$_3$ and HoTe$_3$ materials, which undergo two consecutive charge-density-wave (CDW) phase transitions at $T_{CDW1}$= 265 and 288 K and at $T_{CDW2}$= 157 and 110 K, respectively. We observe the temperature dependence of both the Drude component, due to the itinerant charge carriers, and the single-particle peak, ascribed to the charge-density-wave gap excitation. The CDW gap progressively opens while the metallic component gets narrow with decreasing temperature. An important fraction of the whole Fermi surface seems to be affected by the CDW phase transitions. It turns out that the temperature and the previously investigated pressure dependence of the most relevant CDW parameters share several common features and behaviors. Particularly, the order parameter of the CDW state is in general agreement with the predictions of the BCS theory