Properties of Nuclei up to A=16 using Local Chiral Interactions

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Physics
• Computational Physics
• Quantum Monte Carlo Methods

Background:

• Chiral effective field theory provides a systematic framework for nuclear forces.
• Accurate calculations of nuclear properties are essential for understanding nuclear structure and reactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To perform accurate quantum Monte Carlo calculations for nuclei up to A=16.
• To investigate theoretical uncertainties in chiral effective field theory calculations.
• To assess the predictive power of chiral interactions for nuclear observables.

Main Methods:

• Utilized quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods.
• Employed local chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions up to next-to-next-to-leading order.
• Analyzed uncertainties from chiral expansion, cutoff variations, and operator choices.

Main Results:

• Achieved accurate predictions for binding energies, charge radii, and form factors for nuclei up to A=16.
• Demonstrated that chiral interactions reproduce properties of light nuclei well.
• Identified significant uncertainties in ^{16}O for large coordinate-space cutoffs.

Conclusions:

• Chiral interactions derived from nucleon-nucleon scattering and light systems provide an excellent description of nuclear properties.
• The method is successful for both closed-shell and open-shell nuclei.
• Theoretical uncertainties are manageable for light nuclei but can be significant for heavier systems like ^{16}O.