Structure Factors of Neutron Matter at Finite Temperature

Area of Science:

• Nuclear physics
• Quantum many-body systems

Background:

• Neutron matter is a key component in astrophysics and condensed matter physics.
• Understanding its properties at finite temperature and density is crucial but challenging.
• Current models often rely on approximations or limited density ranges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compute continuum and infinite volume limit extrapolations of neutron matter structure factors.
• To investigate neutron matter properties at densities beyond the virial expansion.
• To establish a foundation for model-independent analysis of neutron matter response.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a lattice formulation of leading-order pionless effective field theory.
• Calculating the momentum dependence of structure factors at finite temperature.
• Controlling for all statistical and systematic errors.

Main Results:

• Structure factors of neutron matter were computed with controlled errors.
• The Tan contact parameter was calculated and showed agreement with the vector structure factor's high momentum tail.
• Results were obtained for densities beyond the virial expansion's reach.

Conclusions:

• This study provides accurate structure factor calculations for neutron matter.
• The findings support a first step towards model-independent understanding of neutron matter.
• The methodology allows for future investigations into the linear response of neutron matter.