37 research outputs found
Towards a fully self-consistent spectral function of the nucleon in nuclear matter
We present a calculation of nuclear matter which goes beyond the usual
quasi-particle approximation in that it includes part of the off-shell
dependence of the self-energy in the self-consistent solution of the
single-particle spectrum. The spectral function is separated in contributions
for energies above and below the chemical potential. For holes we approximate
the spectral function for energies below the chemical potential by a
-function at the quasi-particle peak and retain the standard form for
energies above the chemical potential. For particles a similar procedure is
followed. The approximated spectral function is consistently used at all levels
of the calculation. Results for a model calculation are presented, the main
conclusion is that although several observables are affected by the inclusion
of the continuum contributions the physical consistency of the model does not
improve with the improved self-consistency of the solution method. This in
contrast to expectations based on the crucial role of self-consistency in the
proofs of conservation laws.Comment: 26 pages Revtex with 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Saturation of nuclear matter and short-range correlations
A fully self-consistent treatment of short-range correlations in nuclear
matter is presented. Different implementations of the determination of the
nucleon spectral functions for different interactions are shown to be
consistent with each other. The resulting saturation densities are closer to
the empirical result when compared with (continuous-choice)
Brueckner-Hartree-Fock values. Arguments for the dominance of short-range
correlations in determining the nuclear-matter saturation density are
presented. A further survey of the role of long-range correlations suggests
that the inclusion of pionic contributions to ring diagrams in nuclear matter
leads to higher saturation densities than empirically observed. A possible
resolution of the nuclear-matter saturation problem is suggested.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Phys.Rev.Let
Spontaneous breaking of rotational symmetry in superconductors
We show that homogeneous superconductors with broken spin/isospin symmetry
lower their energy via a transition to a novel superconducting state where the
Fermi-surfaces are deformed to a quasi-ellipsoidal form at zero total momentum
of Cooper pairs. In this state, the gain in the condensation energy of the
pairs dominates over the loss in the kinetic energy caused by the lowest order
(quadrupole) deformation of Fermi-surfaces from the spherically symmetric form.
There are two energy minima in general, corresponding to the deformations of
the Fermi-spheres into either prolate or oblate forms. The phase transition
from spherically symmetric state to the superconducting state with broken
rotational symmetry is of the first order.Comment: 5 pages, including 3 figures, published versio
Critical Enhancement of the In-medium Nucleon-Nucleon Cross Section at low Temperatures
The in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross section is calculated starting from the
thermodynamic T-matrix at finite temperatures. The corresponding
Bethe-Salpeter-equation is solved using a separable representation of the Paris
nucleon-nucleon-potential. The energy-dependent in-medium N-N cross section at
a given density shows a strong temperature dependence. Especially at low
temperatures and low total momenta, the in-medium cross section is strongly
modified by in-medium effects. In particular, with decreasing temperature an
enhancement near the Fermi energy is observed. This enhancement can be
discussed as a precursor of the superfluid phase transition in nuclear matter.Comment: 10 pages with 4 figures (available on request from the authors),
MPG-VT-UR 34/94 accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Four-particle condensate in strongly coupled fermion systems
Four-particle correlations in fermion systems at finite temperatures are
investigated with special attention to the formation of a condensate. Instead
of the instability of the normal state with respect to the onset of pairing
described by the Gorkov equation, a new equation is obtained which describes
the onset of quartetting. Within a model calculation for symmetric nuclear
matter, we find that below a critical density, the four-particle condensation
(alpha-like quartetting) is favored over deuteron condensation (triplet
pairing). This pairing-quartetting competition is expected to be a general
feature of interacting fermion systems, such as the excition-biexciton system
in excited semiconductors. Possible experimental consequences are pointed out.Comment: LaTeX, 11 pages, 2 figures, uses psfig.sty (included), to be
published in Phys. Rev. Lett., tentatively scheduled for 13 April 1998
(Volume 80, Number 15
Off shell behaviour of the in medium nucleon-nucleon cross section
The properties of nucleon-nucleon scattering inside dense nuclear matter are
investigated. We use the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock model to determine
on-shell and half off-shell in-medium transition amplitudes and cross sections.
At finite densities the on-shell cross sections are generally suppressed. This
reduction is, however, less pronounced than found in previous works. In the
case that the outgoing momenta are allowed to be off energy shell the
amplitudes show a strong variation with momentum. This description allows to
determine in-medium cross sections beyond the quasi-particle approximation
accounting thereby for the finite width which nucleons acquire in the dense
nuclear medium. For reasonable choices of the in-medium nuclear spectral width,
i.e. MeV, the resulting total cross sections are, however,
reduced by not more than about 25% compared to the on-shell values. Off-shell
effect are generally more pronounced at large nuclear matter densities.Comment: 31 pages Revtex, 12 figures, typos corrected, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Thermodynamics of - condensate in asymmetric nuclear matter
We study the neutron-proton pairing in nuclear matter as a function of
isospin asymmetry at finite temperatures and the saturation density using
realistic nuclear forces and Brueckner-renormalized single particle spectra.
Our computation of the thermodynamic quantities shows that while the difference
of the entropies of the superconducting and normal phases anomalously changes
its sign as a function of temperature for arbitrary asymmetry, the grand
canonical potential does not; the superconducting state is found to be stable
in the whole temperature-asymmetry plane. The pairing gap completely disappears
for density-asymmetries exceeding .Comment: 7 pages, including 3 figures, uses revte
Two-nucleon spectral function of 16O at high momenta.
A procedure for the calculation of the two-body spectral function of a finite nucleus is presented. This spectral function is used to calculate the longitudinal part of th
Pairing in nuclear systems: from neutron stars to finite nuclei
We discuss several pairing-related phenomena in nuclear systems, ranging from
superfluidity in neutron stars to the gradual breaking of pairs in finite
nuclei. We focus on the links between many-body pairing as it evolves from the
underlying nucleon-nucleon interaction and the eventual experimental and
theoretical manifestations of superfluidity in infinite nuclear matter and of
pairing in finite nuclei. We analyse the nature of pair correlations in nuclei
and their potential impact on nuclear structure experiments. We also describe
recent experimental evidence that points to a relation between pairing and
phase transitions (or transformations) in finite nuclear systems. Finally, we
discuss recent investigations of ground-state properties of random two-body
interactions where pairing plays little role although the interactions yield
interesting nuclear properties such as 0+ ground states in even-even nuclei.Comment: 74 pages, 33 figs, uses revtex4. Submitted to Reviews of Modern
Physic
Inhomogeneous Superconductivity in Condensed Matter and QCD
Inhomogeneous superconductivity arises when the species participating in the
pairing phenomenon have different Fermi surfaces with a large enough
separation. In these conditions it could be more favorable for each of the
pairing fermions to stay close to its Fermi surface and, differently from the
usual BCS state, for the Cooper pair to have a non zero total momentum. For
this reason in this state the gap varies in space, the ground state is
inhomogeneous and a crystalline structure might be formed. This situation was
considered for the first time by Fulde, Ferrell, Larkin and Ovchinnikov, and
the corresponding state is called LOFF. The spontaneous breaking of the space
symmetries in the vacuum state is a characteristic feature of this phase and is
associated to the presence of long wave-length excitations of zero mass. The
situation described here is of interest both in solid state and in elementary
particle physics, in particular in Quantum Chromo-Dynamics at high density and
small temperature. In this review we present the theoretical approach to the
LOFF state and its phenomenological applications using the language of the
effective field theories.Comment: RevTex, 83 pages, 26 figures. Submitted to Review of Modern Physic