Ab Initio Calculations of Low-Energy Nuclear Scattering Using Confining Potential Traps

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Physics
• Quantum Mechanics
• Computational Physics

Background:

• Extracting low-energy nuclear scattering data is crucial for understanding nuclear structure.
• Traditional methods face challenges with complex nuclear systems.
• Confining nuclei in harmonic potential traps offers a novel approach.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test a modified method for extracting nuclear scattering results from trapped nuclei.
• To evaluate the method's accuracy using neutron-alpha and neutron-24O scattering.
• To assess the applicability of the method for diverse nuclear systems.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing discrete energy levels of target-projectile clusters confined in harmonic potential traps.
• Employing two different ab initio nuclear structure methods for spectral calculations.
• Comparing results with direct ab initio reaction calculations for validation.

Main Results:

• Encouraging results obtained for neutron-alpha and neutron-24O elastic scattering.
• Demonstrated applicability for systems where ab initio spectra in traps can be computed.
• Highlighted the importance of understanding errors from Hilbert-space truncations.

Conclusions:

• The modified method provides a viable pathway for low-energy nuclear scattering analysis.
• The approach is extendable to a wide range of nuclear systems.
• Accurate error estimation in ab initio calculations is critical for reliable results.