Functional medium-dependence of the nonrelativistic optical model potential

By examining the structure in momentum and coordinate space of a two-body interaction spherically symmetric in its local coordinate, we demonstrate that it can be disentangled into two distinctive contributions. One of them is a medium-independent and momentum-conserving term, whereas the other is functionally --and exclusively-- proportional to the radial derivative of the reduced matrix element. As example, this exact result was applied to the unabridged optical potential in momentum space, leading to an explicit separation between the medium-free and medium-dependent contributions. The latter does not depend on the strength of the reduced effective interaction but only on its variations with respect to the density. The modulation of radial derivatives of the density enhances the effect in the surface and suppresses it in the saturated volume. The generality of this result may prove to be useful for the study of surface-sensitive phenomena.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Correlation energies by the generator coordinate method: computational aspects for quadrupolar deformations

We investigate truncation schemes to reduce the computational cost of calculating correlations by the generator coordinate method based on mean-field wave functions. As our test nuclei, we take examples for which accurate calculations are available. These include a strongly deformed nucleus, 156Sm, a nucleus with strong pairing, 120Sn, the krypton isotope chain which contains examples of soft deformations, and the lead isotope chain which includes the doubly magic 208Pb. We find that the Gaussian overlap approximation for angular momentum projection is effective and reduces the computational cost by an order of magnitude. Cost savings in the deformation degrees of freedom are harder to realize. A straightforward Gaussian overlap approximation can be applied rather reliably to angular-momentum projected states based on configuration sets having the same sign deformation (prolate or oblate), but matrix elements between prolate and oblate deformations must be treated with more care. We propose a two-dimensional GOA using a triangulation procedure to treat the general case with both kinds of deformation. With the computational gains from these approximations, it should be feasible to carry out a systematic calculation of correlation energies for the nuclear mass table.Comment: 11 pages revtex, 9 eps figure

Topology of the Spin-polarized Charge Density in bcc and fcc Iron

We investigate the topology of the spin-polarized charge density in bcc and fcc iron. While the total spin-density is found to possess the topology of the non-magnetic prototypical structures, in some cases the spin-polarized densities are characterized by unique topologies; for example, the spin-polarized charge densities of bcc and high-spin fcc iron are atypical of any known for non-magnetic materials. In these cases, the two spin-densities are correlated: the spin-minority electrons have directional bond paths with deep minima in the minority density, while the spin-majority electrons fill these holes, reducing bond directionality. The presence of two distinct spin topologies suggests that a well-known magnetic phase transition in iron can be fruitfully reexamined in light of these topological changes. We show that the two phase changes seen in fcc iron (paramagnetic to low-spin and low-spin to high-spin) are different. The former follows the Landau symmetry-breaking paradigm and proceeds without a topological transformation, while the latter also involves a topological catastrophe.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Phys. Rev. Lett. (in press

Short range correlations in relativistic nuclear matter models

Short range correlations are introduced using unitary correlation method in a relativistic approach to the equation of state of the infinite nuclear matter in the framework of the Hartree-Fock approximation. It is shown that the correlations give rise to an extra node in the ground-state wave-function in the nucleons, contrary to what happens in non-relativistic calculations with a hard core. The effect of the correlations in the ground state properties of the nuclear matter and neutron matter is studied. The nucleon effective mass and equation of state (EOS) are very sensitive to short range correlations. In particular, if the pion contact term is neglected a softening of the EOS is predicted. Correlations have also an important effect on the neutron matter EOS which presents no binding but only a very shallow minimum contrary to the Walecka model.Comment: 8pages, 4 figure

Aspects of short range correlations in a relativistic model

In the present work short range correlations are introduced for the first time in a relativistic approach to the equation of state of the infinite nuclear matter in the framework of the Hartree-Fock approximation using an effective Hamiltonian derived from the $\sigma-\omega$ Walecka model. The unitary correlation method is used to introduce short range correlations. The effect of the correlations in the ground state properties of the nuclear matter is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Optical properties of the Ce and La di-telluride charge density wave compounds

The La and Ce di-tellurides LaTe$_2$ and CeTe$_2$ are deep in the charge-density-wave (CDW) ground state even at 300 K. We have collected their electrodynamic response over a broad spectral range from the far infrared up to the ultraviolet. We establish the energy scale of the single particle excitation across the CDW gap. Moreover, we find that the CDW collective state gaps a very large portion of the Fermi surface. Similarly to the related rare earth tri-tellurides, we envisage that interactions and Umklapp processes play a role in the onset of the CDW broken symmetry ground state

Remarks on monopole charge properties within the Generalized Coherent State Model

The Generalized Coherent State Model, proposed previously for a unified description of magnetic and electric collective properties of nuclear systems, is used to study the ground state band charge density as well as the E0 transitions from $0^+_{\beta}$ to $0^+_g$. The influence of the nuclear deformation and of angular momentum projection on the charge density is investigated. The monopole transition amplitude has been calculated for ten nuclei. The results are compared with some previous theoretical studies and with the available experimental data. Our results concerning angular momentum projection are consistent with those of previous microscopic calculations for the ground state density. The calculations for the E0 transitions agree quite well with the experimental data. Issues like how the shape transitions or shape coexistence are reflected in the $\rho(E0)$ behavior are also addressed.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figure

Chemical pressure and hidden one-dimensional behavior in rare earth tri-telluride charge density wave compounds

We report on the first optical measurements of the rare-earth tri-telluride charge-density-wave systems. Our data, collected over an extremely broad spectral range, allow us to observe both the Drude component and the single-particle peak, ascribed to the contributions due to the free charge carriers and to the charge-density-wave gap excitation, respectively. The data analysis displays a diminishing impact of the charge-density-wave condensate on the electronic properties with decreasing lattice constant across the rare-earth series. We propose a possible mechanism describing this behavior and we suggest the presence of a one-dimensional character in these two-dimensional compounds. We also envisage that interactions and umklapp processes might play a relevant role in the formation of the charge-density-wave state in these compounds.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Pressure dependence of the charge-density-wave gap in rare-earth tri-tellurides

We investigate the pressure dependence of the optical properties of CeTe$_3$, which exhibits an incommensurate charge-density-wave (CDW) state already at 300 K. Our data are collected in the mid-infrared spectral range at room temperature and at pressures between 0 and 9 GPa. The energy for the single particle excitation across the CDW gap decreases upon increasing the applied pressure, similarly to the chemical pressure by rare-earth substitution. The broadening of the bands upon lattice compression removes the perfect nesting condition of the Fermi surface and therefore diminishes the impact of the CDW transition on the electronic properties of $R$Te$_3$.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Surface-peaked medium effects in the interaction of nucleons with finite nuclei

We investigate the asymptotic separation of the optical model potential for nucleon-nucleus scattering in momentum space, where the potential is split into a medium-independent term and another depending exclusively on the gradient of the density-dependent g matrix. This decomposition confines the medium sensitivity of the nucleon-nucleus coupling to the surface of the nucleus. We examine this feature in the context of proton-nucleus scattering at beam energies between 30 and 100 MeV and find that the pn coupling accounts for most of this sensitivity. Additionally, based on this general structure of the optical potential we are able to treat both, the medium dependence of the effective interaction and the full mixed density as described by single-particle shell models. The calculated scattering observables agree within 10% with those obtained by Arellano, Brieva and Love in their momentum-space g-folding approach.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, submitted to PR