Realistic interactions and variational calculations of the ground state properties of three body systems in a harmonic oscillator basis

Abstract

A new harmonic oscillator basis for trinucleon ground-state calculations is presented, featuring different oscillator radii for the two intrinsic variables. This basis allows charge-dependent interactions to be handled and yields a better convergence with respect to previously used oscillator bases. The results for the triton binding energy and for the charge form factors of 3H and 3He with the Reid softcore interaction and the charge-dependent Rutherford Laboratory interaction are presented. The wave function obtained using the RSC interaction gives a rather satisfactory reproduction of the 3He experimental charge form factor even at high momentum transfers. A discussion of trinucleon binding energies derived from different realistic interactions is also given with particular emphasis on the role played by the low-energy N-N parameters and by the deuteron D-state probability.