Microscopic calculations and energy expansions for neutron-rich matter

We investigate asymmetric nuclear matter with two- and three-nucleon interactions based on chiral effective field theory, where three-body forces are fit only to light nuclei. Focusing on neutron-rich matter, we calculate the energy for different proton fractions and include estimates of the theoretical uncertainty. We use our ab-initio results to test the quadratic expansion around symmetric matter with the symmetry energy term, and confirm its validity for highly asymmetric systems. Our calculations are in remarkable agreement with an empirical parametrization for the energy density. These findings are very useful for astrophysical applications and for developing new equations of state.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, published versio

Ab-initio self-consistent Gorkov-Green's function calculations of semi-magic nuclei - II. Numerical implementation at second order with a two-nucleon interaction

The newly developed Gorkov-Green's function approach represents a promising path to the ab initio description of medium-mass open-shell nuclei. We discuss the implementation of the method at second order with a two-body interaction, with particular attention to the numerical solution of Gorkov's equation. Different sources of theoretical error and degrees of self-consistency are investigated. We show that Krylov projection techniques with a multi-pivot Lanczos algorithm efficiently handle the growth of poles in the one-body Green's function when Gorkov's equation is solved self-consistently. The end result is a tractable, accurate and gently scaling ab initio scheme applicable to full isotopic chains in the medium-mass region.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figure

Ab-initio Gorkov-Green's function calculations of open-shell nuclei

We present results from a new ab-initio method that uses the self-consistent Gorkov Green's function theory to address truly open-shell systems. The formalism has been recently worked out up to second order and is implemented here in nuclei for the first time on the basis of realistic nuclear forces. We find good convergence of the results with respect to the basis size in Ca44 and Ni74 and discuss quantities of experimental interest including ground-state energies, pairing gaps and particle addition/removal spectroscopy. These results demonstrate that the Gorkov method is a valid alternative to multireference approaches for tackling degenerate or near degenerate quantum systems. In particular, it increases the number of mid-mass nuclei accessible in an ab-initio fashion from a few tens to a few hundreds.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Toward the Ab-initio Description of Medium Mass Nuclei

As ab-initio calculations of atomic nuclei enter the A=40-100 mass range, a great challenge is how to approach the vast majority of open-shell (degenerate) isotopes. We add realistic three-nucleon interactions to the state of the art many-body Green's function theory of closed-shells, and find that physics of neutron driplines is reproduced with very good quality. Further, we introduce the Gorkov formalism to extend ab-initio theory to semi-magic, fully open-shell, isotopes. Proof-of-principle calculations for Ca-44 and Ni-74 confirm that this approach is indeed feasible. Combining these two advances (open-shells and three-nucleon interactions) requires longer, technical, work but it is otherwise within reach.Comment: Contribution to Summary Report of EURISOL Topical and Town Meetings, 15-19 October 2012; missing affiliations added and corrected errors in Tab

Self-consistent Gorkov Green's function calculations of one-nucleon spectral properties

Results from the newly developed Gorkov self-consistent Green's function approach are presented. Ab-initio spectral strength distributions for one-nucleon addition or removal calculated in doubly-closed shell 40Ca and in semi-magic 44Ca are briefly discussed. The object of the present communication is to illustrate the potential spectroscopic reach of the method

Gorkov self-consistent Green's function calculations of semi-magic nuclei

The first nuclear structure application of the newly developed Gorkov self-consistent Green's function method is presented. The approach aims to describe many-nucleon systems from an ab-initio standpoint featuring an explicit treatment of pairing correlations. In the present work calculations of binding energies of calcium isotopes are reported and compared with experimental data and other theoretical references

In medium T-matrix for nuclear matter with three-body forces - binding energy and single particle properties

We present spectral calculations of nuclear matter properties including three-body forces. Within the in-medium T-matrix approach, implemented with the CD-Bonn and Nijmegen potentials plus the three-nucleon Urbana interaction, we compute the energy per particle in symmetric and neutron matter. The three-body forces are included via an effective density dependent two-body force in the in-medium T-matrix equations. After fine tuning the parameters of the three-body force to reproduce the phenomenological saturation point in symmetric nuclear matter, we calculate the incompressibility and the energy per particle in neutron matter. We find a soft equation of state in symmetric nuclear matter but a relatively large value of the symmetry energy. We study the the influence of the three-body forces on the single-particle properties. For symmetric matter the spectral function is broadened at all momenta and all densities, while an opposite effect is found for the case of neutrons only. Noticeable modification of the spectral functions are realized only for densities above the saturation density. The modifications of the self-energy and the effective mass are not very large and appear to be strongly suppressed above the Fermi momentum.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figure