Ab initio calculations of reactions with light nuclei

An {\em ab initio} (i.e., from first principles) theoretical framework capable of providing a unified description of the structure and low-energy reaction properties of light nuclei is desirable to further our understanding of the fundamental interactions among nucleons, and provide accurate predictions of crucial reaction rates for nuclear astrophysics, fusion-energy research, and other applications. In this contribution we review {\em ab initio} calculations for nucleon and deuterium scattering on light nuclei starting from chiral two- and three-body Hamiltonians, obtained within the framework of the {\em ab initio} no-core shell model with continuum. This is a unified approach to nuclear bound and scattering states, in which square-integrable energy eigenstates of the $A$-nucleon system are coupled to $(A-a)+a$ target-plus-projectile wave functions in the spirit of the resonating group method to obtain an efficient description of the many-body nuclear dynamics both at short and medium distances and at long ranges.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physic

Living on the edge of stability, the limits of the nuclear landscape

A first-principles description of nuclear systems along the drip lines presents a substantial theoretical and computational challenge. In this paper, we discuss the nuclear theory roadmap, some of the key theoretical approaches, and present selected results with a focus on long isotopic chains. An important conclusion, which consistently emerges from these theoretical analyses, is that three-nucleon forces are crucial for both global nuclear properties and detailed nuclear structure, and that many-body correlations due to the coupling to the particle continuum are essential as one approaches particle drip lines. In the quest for a comprehensive nuclear theory, high performance computing plays a key role.Comment: Contribution to proceedings of Nobel Symposium 152: Physics with radioactive beams, June 2012, Gothenburg, Swede

Low-energy neutron-deuteron reactions with N3LO chiral forces

We solve three-nucleon Faddeev equations with nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon forces derived consistently in the framework of chiral perturbation theory at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order in the chiral expansion. In this first investigation we include only matrix elements of the three-nucleon force for partial waves with the total two-nucleon (three-nucleon) angular momenta up to 3 (5/2). Low-energy neutron-deuteron elastic scattering and deuteron breakup reaction are studied. Emphasis is put on Ay puzzle in elastic scattering and cross sections in symmetric-space-star and neutron-neutron quasi-free-scattering breakup configurations, for which large discrepancies between data and theory have been reported.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure

Few-nucleon systems with state-of-the-art chiral nucleon-nucleon forces

We apply improved nucleon-nucleon potentials up to fifth order in chiral effective field theory, along with a new analysis of the theoretical truncation errors, to study nucleon-deuteron (Nd) scattering and selected low-energy observables in 3H, 4He, and 6Li. Calculations beyond second order differ from experiment well outside the range of quantified uncertainties, providing truly unambiguous evidence for missing three-nucleon forces within the employed framework. The sizes of the required three-nucleon force contributions agree well with expectations based on Weinberg's power counting. We identify the energy range in elastic Nd scattering best suited to study three-nucleon force effects and estimate the achievable accuracy of theoretical predictions for various observables.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Properties of ^{4}He and ^{6}Li with improved chiral EFT interactions

We present recent results for 4He and 6Li obtained with improved NN interactions derived from chiral effective field theory up to N4LO. The many-body calculations are performed order-by-order in the chiral expansion. At N3LO and N4LO additional renormalization using the Similarity Renormalization Group is adopted to improve numerical convergence of the many-body calculations. We discuss results for the ground state energies, as well as the magnetic moment and the low-lying spectrum of 6Li

Reorientation-effect measurement of the first 2+ state in 12C : Confirmation of oblate deformation

A Coulomb-excitation reorientation-effect measurement using the TIGRESS γ−ray spectrometer at the TRIUMF/ISAC II facility has permitted the determination of the 〈21 +‖E2ˆ‖21 +〉 diagonal matrix element in 12C from particle−γ coincidence data and state-of-the-art no-core shell model calculations of the nuclear polarizability. The nuclear polarizability for the ground and first-excited (21 +) states in 12C have been calculated using chiral NN N4LO500 and NN+3NF350 interactions, which show convergence and agreement with photo-absorption cross-section data. Predictions show a change in the nuclear polarizability with a substantial increase between the ground state and first excited 21 + state at 4.439 MeV. The polarizability of the 21 + state is introduced into the current and previous Coulomb-excitation reorientation-effect analyses of 12C. Spectroscopic quadrupole moments of QS(21 +)=+0.053(44) eb and QS(21 +)=+0.08(3) eb are determined, respectively, yielding a weighted average of QS(21 +)=+0.071(25) eb, in agreement with recent ab initio calculations. The present measurement confirms that the 21 + state of 12C is oblate and emphasizes the important role played by the nuclear polarizability in Coulomb-excitation studies of light nuclei