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Peter Ring

Publications and source records attributed to Peter Ring.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Shape evolution of krypton isotopes calculated with axially deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov approach

We perform a systematic study of the structure and properties of the krypton isotopic chain including both even-even and odd-$A$ nuclei based on the axially deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov approach. Five effective interactions of three families of covariant density functionals, i.e., PC-L3R, DD-PCX, DD-PC1, DD-MEX, and DD-ME2, are employed to calculate potential energy surfaces of krypton isotopes. $^{74,75}$Kr and $^{90,91,92}$Kr are determined as typical candidates of shape coexistence. The potential surfaces originating from the PC-L3R, DD-PCX, and DD-MEX interactions exhibit an abrupt shape transition from oblate to prolate for $^{73\text{-}74}$Kr, whereas DD-PC1 and DD-ME2 preserve an oblate ground-state shape. Such discrepancies are attributed to the occupations of single-particle levels at the vicinity of the Fermi surface described by these functionals. Moreover, the comparison between spherical and deformed calculations verifies the indispensability of deformation degrees of freedom in this region. The consideration of deformation effects improves the description of two-neutron separation energies, of which its evolution clearly demonstrates the $N=50$ and $82$ shell closures. Interestingly, PC-L3R predicts a more extended two-neutron drip line up to $^{132}$Kr, in agreement with the NL3* and PC-PK1 nonlinear effective interactions, whereas other functionals estimate a rather short isotopic chain up to $^{119}$Kr. This anomalous extension implies a significant softening or even collapse of the traditional $N=82$ shell closure near the neutron-rich drip line, highlighting the need for future studies based on triaxial deformation and beyond-mean-field correlations in this nuclear region.

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Speed of sound bounds and first-order phase transitions in compact stars

In the present study, we employ three distinct, physically motivated speed of sound bounds to construct hybrid models, where the high-density phase is described by the maximally stiff equation of state. In particular, we consider the bounds related to special relativity, relativistic kinetic theory and conformality. The low-density hadronic phase is described by a state-of-the-art microscopic relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory. This work aims to access the effect of the different speed of sound constraints on the relevant parameter space of the key parameters of first-order phase transitions by utilizing recent astronomical data. This involves a systematic analysis that also includes two distinct schemes for the construction of hybrid models (abrupt and smooth). Finally, a relevant discussion is conducted on the possible occurrence of a thermodynamic inconsistency that is related to the stability of the high-density phase over hadronic matter at large densities.

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Tensor-force effects on nuclear matter in relativistic ab initio theory

Within the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory in the full Dirac space, the tensor-force effects on infinite nuclear matter are elucidated by subtracting the matrix elements of tensor forces from the realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction. The tensor-force effects for the binding energy per particle of symmetric nuclear matter (SNM) as well as the symmetry energy are attractive and are more pronounced around the empirical saturation density, while the tensor forces have little impact on the pure neutron matter. By tuning the tensor-force strength, an infinite (negative) scattering length in the spin-triplet channel is found. This locates the dilute SNM with only the $^3S_1$-$^3D_1$ channel interaction at the unitary limit. Its ground-state energy is found proportional to the energy of a free Fermi gas with a scaling factor 0.38, revealing good universal properties. This work paves the way to study the tensor-force effects in neutron stars as well as finite nuclei from realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions, highlights the role of the tensor force on the deviation of the nuclear physics to the unitary limit, and provides valuable reference for studies of the four-component unitary Fermi gas.

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Microscopic optical potential from the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory: Proton-nucleus scattering

A relativistic microscopic optical model potential for nucleon-nucleus scattering is developed based on the \emph{ab initio} relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (RBHF) theory with the improved local density approximation, which is abbreviated as the RBOM potential. Both real and imaginary parts of the single-particle potentials in symmetric and asymmetric nuclear matter at various densities are determined uniquely in the full Dirac space. The density distributions of the target nuclei are calculated by the covariant energy density functional theory with the density functional PC-PK1. The central and spin-orbit terms of the optical potentials are quantitatively consistent with the relativistic phenomenological optical potentials. The performance of the RBOM potential is evaluated by considering proton scattering with incident energy $E\leq 200$ MeV on five target nuclei, $\prescript{208}{}{\text{Pb}}$, $\prescript{120}{}{\text{Sn}}$, $\prescript{90}{}{\text{Zr}}$, $\prescript{48}{}{\text{Ca}}$, and $\prescript{40}{}{\text{Ca}}$. Scattering observables including the elastic scattering angular distributions, analyzing powers, spin rotation functions, and reaction cross sections are analyzed. Theoretical predictions show good agreements with the experimental data and the results derived from phenomenological optical potentials. We anticipate that the RBOM potential can provide reference for other phenomenological and microscopic optical model potentials, as well as reliable descriptions for nucleon scattering on exotic nuclei in the era of rare-isotope beams.

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Nuclear ground-state properties probed by the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov approach

Using the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov framework with separable pairing force coupled with the latest covariant density functionals, i.e., PC-L3R, PC-X, DD-PCX, and DD-MEX, we systematically explore the ground-state properties of all isotopes of Z=8-110. These properties consist of the binding energies, one- and two-neutron separation energies ($S_\mathrm{n}$ and $S_\mathrm{2n}$), root-mean-square radius of matter, of neutron, of proton, and of charge distributions, Fermi surfaces, ground-state spins and parities. We then predict the edges of nuclear landscape and bound nuclei for the isotopic chains from oxygen (Z=8) to darmstadtium (Z=110) based on these latest covariant density functionals. The number of bound nuclei predicted by PC-L3R, PC-X, DD-PCX, and DD-MEX, are 9004, 9162, 6799, and 7112, respectively. The root-mean-square deviations of $S_\mathrm{n}$ ($S_\mathrm{2n}$) yielded from PC-L3R, PCX, DD-PCX, and DD-MEX are 0.962 (1.300) MeV, 0.920 (1.483) MeV, 0.993 (1.753) MeV, and 1.010 (1.544) MeV, respectively. The root-mean-square deviations of charge radius distributions of comparing the available experimental values with the theoretical counterparts resulted from PC-L3R, PC-X, DD-PCX, and DD-MEX are 0.035 fm, 0.037 fm, 0.035 fm, and 0.034 fm, respectively. We notice pronounced differences between the empirical and theoretical root-mean-square radii of neutron at nuclei near the neutron drip line of the Mg, Ca, and Kr isotopic chains, suggesting the possible existence of the halo or giant halo phenomena.

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Neutron-proton effective mass splitting in neutron-rich matter

Nucleon effective masses in neutron-rich matter are studied with the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (RBHF) theory in the full Dirac space. The neutron and proton effective masses for symmetric nuclear matter are 0.80 times rest mass, which agrees well with the empirical values. In neutron-rich matter, the effective mass of the neutron is found larger than that of the proton, and the neutron-proton effective mass splittings at the empirical saturation density are predicted as $0.187\alpha$ with $\alpha$ being the isospin asymmetry parameter. The result is compared to other ab initio calculations and is consistent with the constraints from the nuclear reaction and structure measurements, such as the nucleon-nucleus scattering, the giant resonances of $^{208}$Pb, and the Hugenholtz-Van Hove theorem with systematics of nuclear symmetry energy and its slope. The predictions of the neutron-proton effective mass splitting from the RBHF theory in the full Dirac space might be helpful to constrain the isovector parameters in phenomenological density functionals.

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The optimized point-coupling interaction for the relativistic energy density functional of Hartree-Bogoliubov approach quantifying the nuclear bulk properties

We propose a newly optimized nonlinear point-coupling parameterized interaction, PC-L3R, for the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov framework with a further optimized separable pairing force by fitting to observables, i.e., the binding energies of 91 spherical nuclei, charge radii of 63 nuclei, and 12 sets of mean pairing gaps consisting of 54 nuclei in total. The separable pairing force strengths of proton and neutron are optimized together with the point-coupling constants, and are justified in satisfactory reproducing the empirical pairing gaps. The comparison of experimental binding energies compiled in AME2020 for 91 nuclei with the ones generated from the present and other commonly used point-coupling interactions indicates that the implementation of PC-L3R in relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov yields the lowest root-mean-square deviation. The charge radii satisfactory agree with experiment. Meanwhile, PC-L3R is capable of estimating the saturation properties of the symmetric nuclear matter and of appropriately predicting the isospin and mass dependence of binding energy. The experimental odd-even staggering of single nucleon separation energies is well reproduced. The comparison of the estimated binding energies for 7,373 nuclei based on the PC-L3R and other point-coupling interactions is also presented.

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Asymmetric Nuclear Matter and Neutron Star Properties in Relativistic ab initio Theory in the Full Dirac Space

The long-standing controversy about the isospin dependence of the effective Dirac mass in ab initio calculations of asymmetric nuclear matter is clarified by solving the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock equations in the full Dirac space. The symmetry energy and its slope parameter at the saturation density are $E_{\text{sym}}(\rho_0)=33.1$ MeV and $L=65.2$ MeV, in agreement with empirical and experimental values. Further applications predict the neutron star radius $R_{1.4M_\odot}\approx 12$ km and the maximum mass of a neutron star $M_{\text{max}}\leq 2.4M_\odot$.

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Accurate relativistic chiral nucleon-nucleon interaction up to NNLO

We construct a relativistic chiral nucleon-nucleon interaction up to the next-to-next-to-leading order in covariant baryon chiral perturbation theory. We show that a good description of the $np$ phase shifts up to $T_\mathrm{lab}=200$ MeV and even higher can be achieved with a $\tilde{\chi}^2/\mathrm{d.o.f.}$ less than 1. Both the next-to-leading order results and the next-to-next-to-leading order results describe the phase shifts equally well up to $T_\mathrm{lab}=200$ MeV, but for higher energies, the latter behaves better, showing satisfactory convergence. The relativistic chiral potential provides the most essential inputs for relativistic ab initio studies of nuclear structure and reactions, which has been in need for almost two decades.

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Relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock Theory in Infinite Nuclear Matter

On the way of a microscopic derivation of covariant density functionals, the first complete solution of the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (RBHF) equations is presented for symmetric nuclear matter. In most of the earlier investigations, the $G$-matrix is calculated only in the space of positive energy solutions. On the other side, for the solution of the relativistic Hartree-Fock (RHF) equations, also the elements of this matrix connecting positive and negative energy solutions are required. So far, in the literature, these matrix elements are derived in various approximations. We discuss solutions of the Thompson equation for the full Dirac space and compare the resulting equation of state with those of earlier attempts in this direction.

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Many-body approach to superfluid nuclei in axial geometry

Starting from a general many-body fermionic Hamiltonian, we derive the equations of motion (EOM) for nucleonic propagators in a superfluid system. The resulting EOM is of the Dyson type formulated in the basis of Bogoliubov's quasiparticles. As the leading contributions to the dynamical kernel of this EOM in strongly-coupled regimes contain phonon degrees of freedom in various channels, an efficient method of calculating phonon's characteristics is required to successfully model these kernels. The traditional quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA) solvers are typically used for this purpose in nuclear structure calculations, however, they become very prohibitive in non-spherical geometries. In this work, by linking the notion of the quasiparticle-phonon vertex to the variation of the Bogoliubov's Hamiltonian, we show that the recently developed finite-amplitude method (FAM) can be efficiently employed to compute the vertices within the FAM-QRPA. To illustrate the validity of the method, calculations based on the relativistic density-dependent point-coupling Lagrangian are performed for the single-nucleon states in heavy and medium-mass nuclei with axial deformations. The cases of $^{38}$Si and $^{250}$Cf are presented and discussed.

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Nuclear matter in relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory with Bonn potential in the full Dirac space

Starting from the Bonn potential, relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (RBHF) equations are solved for nuclear matter in the full Dirac space, which provides a unique way to determine the single-particle potentials and avoids the approximations applied in the RBHF calculations in the Dirac space with positive-energy states (PESs) only. The uncertainties of the RBHF calculations in the Dirac space with PESs only are investigated, and the importance of the RBHF calculations in the full Dirac space is demonstrated. In the RBHF calculations in the full Dirac space, the empirical saturation properties of symmetric nuclear matter are reproduced, and the obtained equation of state agrees with the results based on the relativistic Green's function approach up to the saturation density.

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Towards an ab initio covariant density functional for nuclear structure

Nuclear structure models built from phenomenological mean fields, the effective nucleon-nucleon interactions (or Lagrangians), and the realistic bare nucleon-nucleon interactions are reviewed. The success of covariant density functional theory (CDFT) to describe nuclear properties and its influence on Brueckner theory within the relativistic framework are focused upon. The challenges and ambiguities of predictions for unstable nuclei without data or for high-density nuclear matter, arising from relativistic density functionals, are discussed. The basic ideas in building an ab initio relativistic density functional for nuclear structure from ab initio calculations with realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions for both nuclear matter and finite nuclei are presented. The current status of fully self-consistent relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (RBHF) calculations for finite nuclei or neutron drops (ideal systems composed of a finite number of neutrons and confined within an external field) is reviewed. The guidance and perspectives towards an ab initio covariant density functional theory for nuclear structure derived from the RBHF results are provided.

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Relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock in nuclear matter without the average momentum approximation

Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory allows to derive the $G$-matrix as an effective interaction between nucleons in the nuclear medium. It depends on the center of mass momentum $\bm{P}$ of the two particles and on the two relative momenta $\bm{q}$ and $\bm{q'}$ before and after the scattering process. In the evaluation of the total energy per particle in nuclear matter usually the angle averaged center of mass momentum approximation has been used. We derive in detail the exact expressions of the angular integrations of the momentum $\bm{P}$ within relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (RBHF) theory, especially for the case of asymmetric nuclear matter. In order to assess the reliability of the conventional average momentum approximation for the binding energy, the saturation properties of symmetric and asymmetric nuclear matter are systematically investigated based on the realistic Bonn nucleon-nucleon potential. It is found that the exact treatment of the center of mass momentum leads to non-negligible contributions to the higher order physical quantities. The correlation between the symmetry energy $E_{\mathrm{sym}}$, the slope parameter $L$, and the curvature $K_{\mathrm{sym}}$ of the symmetry energy are investigated. The results of our RBHF calculations for the bulk parameters characterizing the equation of state are compared with recent constraints extracted from giant monopole resonance and isospin diffusion experiments.

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Effects of Tensor Force in the Relativistic Scheme: A Case Study of Neutron Drops

Tensor force is an important component in the nucleon-nucleon interaction, nevertheless, the role of the tensor force in the spin properties in finite nuclei is much less clear. In this report, we mainly focus on our recent progress on this topic about the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory and the corresponding tensor effects on the spin-orbit splittings in neutron drops. This will serve as an important guide for future microscopic derivations of the relativistic and non-relativistic nuclear energy density functionals.

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Spin symmetry in the Dirac sea derived from the bare nucleon-nucleon interaction

The spin symmetry in the Dirac sea has been investigated with relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory using the bare nucleon-nucleon interaction. Taking the nucleus $^{16}$O as an example and comparing the theoretical results with the data, the definition of the single-particle potential in the Dirac sea is studied in detail. It is found that if the single-particle states in the Dirac sea are treated as occupied states, the ground state properties are in better agreement with experimental data. Moreover, in this case, the spin symmetry in the Dirac sea is better conserved and it is more consistent with the findings using phenomenological relativistic density functionals.

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Relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory for neutron drops

Neutron drops confined in an external field are studied in the framework of relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory using the bare nucleon-nucleon interaction. The ground state energies and radii of neutron drops with even numbers from $N = 4$ to $N=50$ are calculated and compared with results obtained from other nonrelativistic \textit{ab initio} calculations and from relativistic density functional theory. Special attention has been paid to the magic numbers and to the sub-shell closures. The single-particle energies are investigated and the monopole effect of the tensor force on the evolutions of the spin-orbit and the pseudospin-orbit splittings is discussed. The results provide interesting insight of neutron rich systems and can form an important guide for future density functionals.

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Effects of tensor forces in nuclear spin-orbit splittings from ab initio calculations

A systematic and specific pattern due to the effects of the tensor forces is found in the evolution of spin-orbit splittings in neutron drops. This result is obtained from relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory using the bare nucleon-nucleon interaction. It forms an important guide for future microscopic derivations of relativistic and nonrelativistic nuclear energy density functionals.

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