Tetrahedral shape of 110^{110}Zr from covariant density functional theory in 3D lattice space

Covariant density functional theory is solved in 3D lattice space by implementing the preconditioned conjugate gradient method with a filtering function (PCG-F). It considerably improves the computational efficiency compared to the previous inverse Hamiltonian method (IHM). This new method is then applied to explore the tetrahedral shape of $^{110}$Zr in the full deformation space. The ground state of $^{110}$Zr is found to have a tetrahedral shape, but the deformations $\beta_{31}$ and $\beta_{33}$ greatly soften the potential energy surface. This effect is analysed with the microscopic evolution of the single-particle levels near the Fermi surface driven by the deformation

Ab initio study of nuclear clustering in hot dilute nuclear matter

We present a systematic ab initio study of clustering in hot dilute nuclear matter using nuclear lattice effective field theory with an SU(4)-symmetric interaction. We introduce a method called light-cluster distillation to determine the abundances of dimers, trimers, and alpha clusters as a function of density and temperature. Our lattice results are compared with an ideal gas model composed of free nucleons and clusters. Excellent agreement is found at very low density, while deviations from ideal gas abundances appear at increasing density due to cluster-nucleon and cluster-cluster interactions. In addition to determining the composition of hot dilute nuclear matter as a function of density and temperature, the lattice calculations also serve as benchmarks for virial expansion calculations, statistical models, and transport models of fragmentation and clustering in nucleus-nucleus collisions.Comment: 6+8 pages, 4+8 figure

Covariant Density Functional Theory with Localized Exchange Terms

A new density-dependent point-coupling covariant density functional PCF-PK1 is proposed, where the exchange terms of the four-fermion terms are local and are taken into account with the Fierz transformation. The coupling constants of the PCF-PK1 functional are determined by empirical saturation properties and ab initio equation of state and proton-neutron Dirac mass splittings for nuclear matter as well as the ground-state properties of selected spherical nuclei. The success of the PCF-PK1 is illustrated with properties of the infinite nuclear matter and finite nuclei including the ground-state properties and the Gamow-Teller resonances. In particular, the PCFPK1 eliminates the spurious shell closures at Z = 58 and Z = 92, which exist commonly in many covariant density functionals without exchange terms. Moreover, the Gamow-Teller resonances are nicely reproduced without any adjustable parameters, and this demonstrates that a self-consistent description for the Gamow-Teller resonances can be achieved with the localized exchange terms in the PCF-PK1. ?Comment: 35 pages, 14 figure

Accurate relativistic density functional for exchange energy of atomic nuclei

The inclusion of nucleonic exchange energy has been a long-standing challenge for the relativistic density functional theory (RDFT) in nuclear physics. We propose an orbital-dependent relativistic Kohn-Sham density functional theory to incorporate the exchange energy with local Lorentz scalar and vector potentials. The relativistic optimized effective potential equations for the local exchange potentials are derived and solved efficiently. The obtained binding energies and charge radii for nuclei are benchmarked with the results given by the traditional relativistic Hartree-Fock approach, which involves complicated nonlocal potentials. It demonstrates that the present framework is not only accurate but also efficient. © 2023 The Author(s)11Nsciescopu

Ab initio study of nuclear clustering in hot dilute nuclear matter

We present a systematic ab initio study of clustering in hot dilute nuclear matter using nuclear lattice effective field theory with an SU(4)-symmetric interaction. We introduce a method called light-cluster distillation to determine the abundances of dimers, trimers, and alpha clusters as a function of density and temperature. Our lattice results are compared with an ideal gas model composed of free nucleons and clusters. Excellent agreement is found at very low density, while deviations from ideal gas abundances appear at increasing density due to cluster-nucleon and cluster-cluster interactions. In addition to determining the composition of hot dilute nuclear matter as a function of density and temperature, the lattice calculations also serve as benchmarks for virial expansion calculations, statistical models, and transport models of fragmentation and clustering in nucleus-nucleus collisions