An effective interaction for nuclear hartree-fock calculations

Abstract

An effective potential is presented which matches S, P, and D-wave nucleon-nucleon phase parameters up to 320 MeV without generating the usual strong, short-range correlations. A suitably defined set of separable potentials, including a noncentral force and having small off-energy-shell matrix elements, is employed to produce smooth two-body wave functions. As a preliminary theoretical test of this effective interaction and of the applicability of perturbation theory, the average energy per particle, the single particle potential, and the symmetry energy of infinite nuclear matter have been computed. A saturation of nuclear matter is found in first order at a Fermi momentum of k F = 1.6 F −1 with an average energy per particle of −8 MeV; second order contributions move the minimum to k F = 1.8 F −1 with an average energy per particle of −14.1 MeV. This saturation is characterized by significant P-wave contributions. A convergence of perturbation theory is indicated by a ratio of second to first order potential energy of <0.10 in all but the coupled 3S 1 + 3D 1 state where the second order potential energy per particle is −4 MeV at k F = 1.8 F −1. It is suggested that this smooth potential, which is related to the realistic interaction by a canonical transformation, can be used in nuclear Hartree-Fock calculations.