494 research outputs found
Ab Initio Calculations of Even Oxygen Isotopes with Chiral Two- Plus Three-Nucleon Interactions
We formulate the In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group (IM-SRG) for
open-shell nuclei using a multi-reference formalism based on a generalized Wick
theorem introduced in quantum chemistry. The resulting multi-reference IM-SRG
(MR-IM-SRG) is used to perform the first ab initio study of even oxygen
isotopes with chiral NN and 3N Hamiltonians, from the proton to the neutron
drip lines. We obtain an excellent reproduction of experimental ground-state
energies with quantified uncertainties, which is validated by results from the
Importance-Truncated No-Core Shell Model and the Coupled Cluster method. The
agreement between conceptually different many-body approaches and experiment
highlights the predictive power of current chiral two- and three-nucleon
interactions, and establishes the MR-IM-SRG as a promising new tool for ab
initio calculations of medium-mass nuclei far from shell closures.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, v2 corresponding to published versio
Ab Initio study of neutron drops with chiral Hamiltonians
We report ab initio calculations for neutron drops in a 10 MeV external
harmonic-oscillator trap using chiral nucleon-nucleon plus three-nucleon
interactions. We present total binding energies, internal energies, radii and
odd-even energy differences for neutron numbers N = 2 - 18 using the no-core
shell model with and without importance truncation. Furthermore, we present
total binding energies for N = 8, 16, 20, 28, 40, 50 obtained in a
coupled-cluster approach. Comparisons with Green's Function Monte Carlo
results, where available, using Argonne v8' with three-nucleon interactions
reveal important dependences on the chosen Hamiltonian.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group with Chiral Two- Plus Three-Nucleon Interactions
We use the recently proposed In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group
(IM-SRG) to carry out a systematic study of closed-shell nuclei up to
\nuc{Ni}{56}, based on chiral two- plus three-nucleon interactions. We
analyze the capabilities of the IM-SRG by comparing our results for the
ground-state energy to Coupled Cluster calculations, as well as to quasi-exact
results from the Importance-Truncated No-Core Shell Model. Using chiral two-
plus three-nucleon Hamiltonians whose resolution scales are lowered by
free-space SRG evolution, we obtain good agreement with experimental binding
energies in \nuc{He}{4} and the closed-shell oxygen isotopes, while the
calcium and nickel isotopes are somewhat overbound.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
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
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
Nonperturbative shell-model interactions from the in-medium similarity renormalization group
We present the first ab initio construction of valence-space Hamiltonians for
medium-mass nuclei based on chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions using
the in-medium similarity renormalization group. When applied to the oxygen
isotopes, we find experimental ground-state energies are well reproduced,
including the flat trend beyond the drip line at 24O. Similarly, natural-parity
spectra in 21,22,23,24O are in agreement with experiment, and we present
predictions for excited states in 25,26O. The results exhibit a weak dependence
on the harmonic-oscillator basis parameter and reproduce spectroscopy within
the standard sd valence space.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, published versio
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
Shrinking-Hole Colloidal Lithography: Self-Aligned Nanofabrication of Complex Plasmonic Nanoantennas
Plasmonic nanoantennas create locally strongly enhanced electric fields in so-called hot spots. To place a relevant nanoobject with high accuracy in such a hot spot is crucial to fully capitalize on the potential of nanoantennas to control, detect, and enhance processes at the nanoscale. With state-of-the-art nanofabrication, in particular when several materials are to be used, small gaps between antenna elements are sought, and large surface areas are to be patterned, this is a grand challenge. Here we introduce self-aligned, bottom-up and self-assembly based Shrinking-Hole Colloidal Lithography, which provides (i) unique control of the size and position of subsequently deposited particles forming the nanoantenna itself, and (ii) allows delivery of nanoobjects consisting of a material of choice to the antenna hot spot, all in a single lithography step and, if desired, uniformly covering several square centimeters of surface. We illustrate the functionality of SHCL nanoantenna arrangements by (i) an optical hydrogen sensor exploiting the polarization dependent sensitivity of an Au-Pd nanoantenna ensemble; and (ii) single particle hydrogen sensing with an Au dimer nanoantenna with a small Pd nanoparticle in the hot spot
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