Nuclear binding energies from moment methods: Realistic effective no-core Hamiltonian

Abstract

Total binding energies for nuclei with $14\ensuremath{\le}A\ensuremath{\le}18$ are obtained from a realistic effective no-core Hamiltonian, ${H}_{\mathrm{eff}}$, using moment methods. The lowest few moments of ${H}_{\mathrm{eff}}$ are evaluated in an oscillator model space of four major shells. These moments are then used to determine a number of continuous and discrete density of states functions, each of which yields an estimate for the ${H}_{\mathrm{eff}}$ ground state energy. The adjustable discrete density of states functions which we introduce are based upon realistic single-particle Hamiltonians. With a reasonable selection of moment method ingredients we obtain good agreement between theory and experiment for relative binding energies within each $A$ chain. The most stable isobar is correctly predicted in all cases and Coulomb energy differences are in close agreement with experiment. Thus, the valley of $\ensuremath{\beta}$ stability is well reproduced in this approach with a simple overall shift in absolute binding energies for each $A$ chain.NUCLEAR STRUCTURE Binding energies from moment methods; spectral properties of realistic effective no-core Hamiltonian; approximate density of states function based on realistic single-particle Hamiltonians.