Short-range correlations and the one-body density matrix in finite nuclei

Abstract

The effects of short-range correlations derived from a realistic meson-exchange potential on the single-particle density matrix in finite nuclei are investigated by analyzing the one-body density in terms of the natural orbits. Basic features of these natural orbits and their spectral distributions are discussed. For many observables it seems to be sufficient to approximate the one-body density matrix in terms of those natural orbits, which exhibit the largest occupation probabilities. For the investigation of the high-momentum components in the single-particle density, however, it is important to take into account natural orbits with small occupation probabilities, originating from the single-particle Green function at large negative energies.