Skyrme functional with tensor terms from \textit{ab initio} calculations of neutron-proton drops

A new Skyrme functional devised to account well for standard nuclear properties as well as for spin and spin-isospin properties is presented. The main novelty of this work relies on the introduction of tensor terms guided by \textit{ab initio} relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock calculations of neutron-proton drops. The inclusion of tensor term does not decrease the accuracy in describing bulk properties of nuclei, experimental data of some selected spherical nuclei such as binding energies, charge radii, and spin-orbit splittings can be well fitted. The new functional is applied to the investigation of various collective excitations such as the Giant Monopole Resonance (GMR), the Isovector Giant Dipole Resonance (IVGDR), the Gamow-Teller Resonance (GTR), and the Spin-Dipole Resonance (SDR). The overall description with the new functional is satisfactory and the tensor terms are shown to be important particularly for the improvement of the Spin-Dipole Resonance results. Predictions for the neutron skin thickness based on the non-energy weighted sum rule of the Spin-Dipole Resonance are also given.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figure

Effects of tensor forces in nuclear spin-orbit splittings from ab initio calculations

A systematic and specific pattern due to the effects of the tensor forces is found in the evolution of spin-orbit splittings in neutron drops. This result is obtained from relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory using the bare nucleon-nucleon interaction. It forms an important guide for future microscopic derivations of relativistic and nonrelativistic nuclear energy density functionals.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory for neutron drops

Neutron drops confined in an external field are studied in the framework of relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory using the bare nucleon-nucleon interaction. The ground state energies and radii of neutron drops with even numbers from $N = 4$ to $N=50$ are calculated and compared with results obtained from other nonrelativistic \textit{ab initio} calculations and from relativistic density functional theory. Special attention has been paid to the magic numbers and to the sub-shell closures. The single-particle energies are investigated and the monopole effect of the tensor force on the evolutions of the spin-orbit and the pseudospin-orbit splittings is discussed. The results provide interesting insight of neutron rich systems and can form an important guide for future density functionals.Comment: 31 pages, 12 figure

Fully self-consistent relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory for finite nuclei

Starting from the relativistic form of the Bonn potential as a bare nucleon-nucleon interaction, the full Relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (RBHF) equations are solved for finite nuclei in a fully self-consistent basis. This provides a relativistic ab initio calculation of the ground state properties of finite nuclei without any free parameters and without three-body forces. The convergence properties for the solutions of these coupled equations are discussed in detail at the example of the nucleus $^{16}$O. The binding energies, radii, and spin-orbit splittings of the doubly magic nuclei $^{4}$He, $^{16}$O, and $^{40}$Ca are calculated and compared with the earlier RBHF calculated results in a fixed Dirac Woods-Saxon basis and other non-relativistic ab initio calculated results based on pure two-body forces.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figure

Particle-vibration coupling for giant resonances beyond the diagonal approximation

A self-consistent particle-vibration coupling (PVC) model without diagonal approximation is presented. The diagonal approximation, that neglects completely the interaction between the doorway states, has been removed by taking into account the interaction between the two particle-holes inside the doorway states. As applications, isoscalar giant monopole, dipole, and quadrupole resonances in 16O are investigated based on the use of Skyrme functionals. The diagonal approximation is found to clearly impact the strength distribution of the giant quadrupole resonance, and the description of the experimental data is improved without this approximation. The impact of the diagonal approximation is analyzed in detail, especially its effect on the eigenenergies and the induced coupling between neutron and proton particle-hole configurations. The latter is a direct and physically sound effect of the improvement on our formalism. The importance of using self-consistently the full effective interaction in the PVC vertex, and the effect of its renormalization via the subtraction method, are also discussed. For completeness, we also analyze the dependence of our results on the Skyrme parametrization.Comment: 22 pages, 18 figure

Pseudospin symmetry: Recent progress with supersymmetric quantum mechanics

It is an interesting and open problem to trace the origin of the pseudospin symmetry in nuclear single-particle spectra and its symmetry breaking mechanism in actual nuclei. In this report, we mainly focus on our recent progress on this topic by combining the similarity renormalization group technique, supersymmetric quantum mechanics, and perturbation theory. We found that it is a promising direction to understand the pseudospin symmetry in a quantitative way.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, Proceedings of the XX International School on Nuclear Physics, Neutron Physics and Applications, Varna, Bulgaria, 16-22 September, 201

Ab initio calculation of the alpha-particle monopole transition form factor: No puzzle for nuclear forces

We present a parameter-free ab initio calculation of the $\alpha$-particle monopole transition form factor in the framework of nuclear lattice effective field theory. We use a minimal nuclear interaction that was previously used to reproduce the ground state properties of light nuclei, medium-mass nuclei, and neutron matter simultaneously with no more than a few percent error in the energies and charge radii. The results for the monopole transition form factor are in good agreement with recent precision data from Mainz.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure