Implicit and explicit renormalization: Two complementary views of effective interactions

Abstract

We analyze quantitatively the interplay between explicit and implicit renormalization in Nuclear Physics. By explicit renormalization we mean to integrate out higher energy modes below a given cutoff scale using the similarity renormalization group (SRG) with a block-diagonal evolution generator, which separates the total Hilbert-space into a model space and its complementary. In the implicit renormalization we impose given conditions at low energies for a cutoff theory. In both cases we compare the outcoming effective interactions as functions of the cutoff scale. We carry out a comprehensive analysis of a toy-model which captures the main features of the nucleon–nucleon (NN) S-wave interaction at low energies. We find a wide energy region where both approaches overlap. This amounts to a great simplification in the determination of the effective interaction. Actually, the outcoming scales are within the expected ones relevant for the physics of light nuclei.