Ab Initio Optical Potentials and Nucleon Scattering on Medium Mass Nuclei.

Area of Science:

• Nuclear physics
• Computational physics

Background:

• Accurate optical potentials are essential for understanding nuclear reactions.
• Ab initio methods offer a first-principles approach to nuclear structure and reactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To derive ab initio optical potentials for neutron scattering.
• To investigate the elastic scattering of neutrons off oxygen and calcium isotopes.
• To benchmark the method against established nuclear models.

Main Methods:

• Self-consistent Green's function theory was used to derive optical potentials.
• Ab initio calculations were performed for neutron scattering.
• Comparison with experimental scattering data and no-core shell model calculations.

Main Results:

• Satisfactory agreement with scattering data at low energies.
• Identified virtual target excitations as crucial for fragmentation and absorption at higher energies.
• Demonstrated the capability of the method for medium mass nuclei.

Conclusions:

• The ab initio approach provides a reliable method for calculating optical potentials.
• This work advances the understanding of nuclear scattering phenomena.
• The method is a significant step towards complex many-body systems.