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Coupled-Cluster Calculations of Neutrinoless Double-β Decay in ^{48}Ca
S Novario1,2, P Gysbers3,4, J Engel5
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|May 21, 2021
Summary
Researchers calculated the nuclear matrix element for neutrinoless double-beta decay in Calcium-48 using advanced coupled-cluster theory. The study found a relatively small matrix element, crucial for understanding this rare nuclear process.
Area of Science:
- Nuclear physics
- Quantum chemistry
Background:
- Neutrinoless double-beta decay is a hypothetical nuclear process.
- Understanding this decay requires accurate calculations of nuclear matrix elements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compute the nuclear matrix element for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of Calcium-48.
- To assess the accuracy of the coupled-cluster theory approach through benchmarks.
Main Methods:
- Coupled-cluster theory
- Chiral effective field theory for nuclear interactions
- No-core shell model benchmarks
Main Results:
- A relatively small nuclear matrix element was found for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of Calcium-48.
- The nuclear matrix element for the two-neutrino double-beta decay was also computed.
Conclusions:
- The coupled-cluster approach provides reliable nuclear matrix elements for double-beta decay studies.
- The findings contribute to the ongoing search for neutrinoless double-beta decay.
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