S-channel Research Articles

ΩbbbΩbbbΩbbb tribaryons

We study the possible existence of bound states of three Ωbbb baryons. We consider only S wave interactions and we start from recent lattice QCD results which give a strongly attractive potential between two Ωbbb baryons in the 1S0 channel. We analyze different scenarios. At baryonic level, the ΩbbbΩbbb interaction could be understood to be basically spin-independent, so that the two contributing channels, 1S0 and 5S2, would have a very similar interaction. This baryonic analysis leads to the existence of bound states in the three-body system. At the quark level, repulsive effects would appear in the 5S2 channel, making it more repulsive than the 1S0 channel. We study the effect of such repulsion.

Neutron-Proton Scattering Phase Shifts in S-Channel using Phase Function Method for Various Two Term Potentials

The scattering phase shifts for n-p scattering have been modeled using various two term exponential type potentials such as Malfliet-Tjon, Manning-Rosen and Morse to study the phase shifts in the S-channels. As a first step, the model arameters for each of the potentials are determined by obtaining binding energy of the deuteron using matrix methods vis-a-vis Variational Monte-Carlo (VMC) technique to minimize the percentage error w.r.t. the experimental value. Then, the first order ODE as given by phase function method (PFM), is numerically solved using 5th order Runge-Kutta (RK-5) technique, by substituting the obtained potentials for calculating phase shifts for the bound 3S1 channel. Finally, the potential parameters are varied in least squares sense using VMC technique to obtain the scattering phase-shifts for each of the potentials in the 1S0 channel. The numerically obtained values are seen to be matching with those obtained using other analytical techniques and a comparative analysis with the experimental values up to 300 MeV is presented.

Determining the leading-order contact term in neutrinoless double \u03b2 decay

We present a method to determine the leading-order (LO) contact term contributing to the nn → ppe−e− amplitude through the exchange of light Majorana neutrinos. Our approach is based on the representation of the amplitude as the momentum integral of a known kernel (proportional to the neutrino propagator) times the generalized forward Compton scattering amplitude n(p1)n(p2)W+(k) → pleft({p}_1^{prime}right)pleft({p}_2^{prime}right){W}^{-}(k) , in analogy to the Cottingham formula for the electromagnetic contribution to hadron masses. We construct model-independent representations of the integrand in the low- and high-momentum regions, through chiral EFT and the operator product expansion, respectively. We then construct a model for the full amplitude by interpolating between these two regions, using appropriate nucleon factors for the weak currents and information on nucleon-nucleon (NN) scattering in the 1S0 channel away from threshold. By matching the amplitude obtained in this way to the LO chiral EFT amplitude we obtain the relevant LO contact term and discuss various sources of uncertainty. We validate the approach by computing the analog I = 2 NN contact term and by reproducing, within uncertainties, the charge-independence-breaking contribution to the 1S0NN scattering lengths. While our analysis is performed in the overline{mathrm{MS}} scheme, we express our final result in terms of the scheme-independent renormalized amplitude {mathcal{A}}_{nu}left(left|mathbf{p}right|,left|mathbf{p}^{prime}right|right) at a set of kinematic points near threshold. We illustrate for two cutoff schemes how, using our synthetic data for {mathcal{A}}_{nu } , one can determine the contact-term contribution in any regularization scheme, in particular the ones employed in nuclear-structure calculations for isotopes of experimental interest.

Superfluid Phonons in Neutron Star Core

In neutron stars the nuclear asymmetric matter is expected to undergo phase transitions to a superfluid state. According to simple estimates, neutron matter in the inner crust and just below should be in the s-wave superfluid phase, corresponding to the neutron-neutron 1S0 channel. At higher density in the core also the proton component should be superfluid, while in the inner core the neutron matter can be in the 3P2 superfluid phase. Superluidity is believed to be at the basis of the glitches phenomenon and to play a decisive influence on many processes like transport, neutrino emission and cooling, and so on. One of the peculiarity of the superfluid phase is the presence of characteristic collective excitation, the so called ’phonons’, that correspond to smooth modulations of the order parameter and display a linear spectrum at low enough momentum. This paper is a brief review of the different phonons that can appear in Neutron Star superfuid matter and their role in several dynamical processes. Particular emphasis is put on the spectral functions of the different components, that is neutron, protons and electrons, which reveal their mutual influence. The open problems are discussed and indications on the work that remain to be done are given.

Vacuum ultraviolet photodissociation dynamics of N2O+hv→N2(X1Σg+)+O(1S) in the short wavelength tail of D1Σ+ band

Vacuum ultraviolet photodissociation dynamics of N2O+hv→N2(X1Σg+)+O(1S0) in the short wavelength tail of D1Σ+ band has been investigated using the time-sliced velocity-mapped ion imaging technique by probing the images of the O(1S0) photoproducts at a set of photolysis wavelengths including 121.47 nm, 122.17 nm, 123.25 nm and 123.95 nm. The product total kinetic energy release distributions, vibrational state distributions of the N2(X1Σg+) photofragments and angular anisotropy parameters have been obtained by analyzing the raw O(1S0) images. It is noted that additional vibrationally excited photoproducts (3≤v≤8) with a Boltzmann-like feature start to appear except the non-statistical component as the photolysis wavelength decreases to 123.25 nm, and the corresponding populations become more pronounced with decreasing of the photolysis wave-length. Furthermore, the vibrational state specific anisotropy parameter β at each photolysis wavelength exhibits a drastic fluctuation near β=1.75 at v<8, and decreases to a minimum as the vibrational quantum number further increases. While the overall anisotropy parameter β for the N2(X1Σg+)+O(1S0) channel presents a roughly monotonical increase from 1.63 at 121.47 nm to 1.95 at 123.95 nm. The experimental observations suggest that there is at least one fast nonadiabatic pathway from initially prepared D1Σ+ state to the dissociative state with bent geometry dominating to generate the additional vibrational structures at high photoexcitation energies.

Vacuum ultraviolet photodissociation dynamics of OCS + hv → CO(1Σ+) + S(1S0) via the E and F Rydberg states.

The state-resolved photodissociation of the CO(1Σ+) + S(1S0) photoproduct channel, formed by vacuum ultraviolet photoexcitation of OCS to a progression of the symmetric stretching vibration (ν1') in the E and F states, has been investigated by using the time-sliced velocity map ion imaging technique. The total kinetic energy release spectra and the vibrational state specific anisotropy parameters (β) were obtained based on the raw images of S(1S0) photoproducts detected in the wavelength ranges of 134.40-140.98 nm, respectively. Except for vibrational band origins, the CO(1Σ+) photoproducts are found to have more significant populations at highly vibrationally excited states as the symmetric stretching vibrational excitation of the E and F states increases. Furthermore, the vibrational-state specific β values for the CO(1Σ+) + S(1S0) channel via the E and F states both show a sudden change from negative to positive in the vicinity of moderately vibronic levels of the E and F states. This anomalous phenomenon suggests that multiple excited states with different symmetries are involved in the photoexcitation process at relatively short photolysis wavelengths due to the strong vibronic couplings existing in the higher vibronic levels of the E and F states, and the formation of CO(1Σ+) + S(1S0) photoproducts may proceed by different nonadiabatic interactions from the prepared excited states to the lower dissociative state 1Σ+, with strong dependence of the initially symmetric stretching excitation in the Rydberg-type transitions.

Consistency between L\xfcscher\u2019s finite volume method and HAL QCD method for two-baryon systems in lattice QCD

There exist two methods to study two-baryon systems in lattice QCD: the direct method which extracts eigenenergies from the plateaux of the temporal correlation function and the HAL QCD method which extracts observables from the non-local potential associated with the tempo-spatial correlation function. Although the two methods should give the same results theoretically, there have been reported qualitative difference for observables from lattice QCD simulations. Recently, we pointed out in [1, 2] that the separation of the ground state from the excited states is crucial to obtain sensible results in the former, while both states provide useful signals for observables in the latter. In this paper, we identify the contribution of each state in the direct method by decomposing the two-baryon correlation functions into the finite-volume eigenmodes obtained from the HAL QCD method. As in our previous studies, we consider the ΞΞ system in the 1S0 channel at mπ = 0.51 GeV in (2+1)-flavor lattice QCD using the wall and smeared quark sources with spatial extents, La = 3.6, 4.3, 5.8 fm. We demonstrate that the “pseudo-plateau” at early time slices (t = 1 ∼ 2 fm) from the smeared source in the direct method indeed originates from the contamination of the excited states, and the plateau with the ground state saturation is realized only at t > 5 ∼ 15 fm corresponding to the inverse of the lowest excitation energy. We also demonstrate that the two-baryon operator can be optimized by utilizing the finite-volume eigenmodes, so that (i) the finite-volume energy spectra from the HAL QCD method agree with those from the temporal correlation function with the optimized operators and (ii) the correct finite-volume spectra would be accessed in the direct method only if highly optimized operators are employed. Thus we conclude that the long-standing issue on the consistency between Lüscher’s finite volume method and the HAL QCD method for two baryons is now resolved at least for this particular system considered here: they are consistent with each other quantitatively only if the excited contamination is properly removed in the former.

Baryon interactions from lattice QCD with physical quark masses – Nuclear forces and ΞΞ forces –

We present the latest lattice QCD results for baryon interactions obtained at nearly physical quark masses. Nf = 2 + 1 nonperturbatively O(a)-improved Wilson quark action with stout smearing and Iwasaki gauge action are employed on the lattice of (96a)4 ≃(8.1fm)4 with a-1 ≃2.3 GeV, where mπ ≃146 MeV and mK ≃525 MeV. In this report, we study the two-nucleon systems and two-Ξ systems in 1S0 channel and 3S1-3D1 coupled channel, and extract central and tensor interactions by the HAL QCD method. We also present the results for the NΩ interaction in 5S2 channel which is relevant to the NΩ pair-momentum correlation in heavy-ion collision experiments.

Phase Transition in the SRG Flow of Nuclear Interactions

We use a chiral interaction at N3LO in the 1S0 channel of the nucleon- nucleon interaction in order to investigate the on-shell transition along the similarity renormalization group flow towards the infrared limit. We find a crossover at a scale that depends on the number of grid points used to discretise the momentum space.

The properties of nuclear matter with lattice NN potential in relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory.

We study the properties of nuclear matter with lattice nucleon-nucleon (NN) potential in the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (RBHF) theory. To use this potential in such a microscopic many-body theory, we firstly have to construct a one-boson-exchange potential (OBEP) based on the latest lattice NN potential. Three mesons, pion, σ meson, and ω meson, are considered. Their coupling constants and cut-off momenta are determined by fitting the on-shell behaviors and phase shifts of the lattice force, respectively. Therefore, we obtain two parameter sets of the OBEP potential (named as LOBEP1 and LOBEP2) with these two fitting ways. We calculate the properties of symmetric and pure neutron matter with LOBEP1 and LOBEP2. In non-relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock case, the binding energies of symmetric nuclear matter are around −3 and −5 MeV at saturation density, while it becomes −8 and −12 MeV in relativistic framework with 1S0, 3S1, and 3D1 channels using our two parameter sets. For the pure neutron matter, the equations of state in non-relativistic and relativistic cases are very similar due to only consideration 1S0 channel with isospin T = 1 case.

Block-diagonal similarity renormalization group and effective nucleon-nucleon interactions

We apply the block-diagonal similarity renormalization group to a simple toy-model for the nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction in the 1S0 channel, aiming to analyze the complementarity between the explicit and the implicit renormalization approaches in nuclear physics. By explicit renormalization we mean the methods based on the wilsonian renormalization group in which high-energy modes above a given cutoff scale are integrated out while their effects are replaced by scale dependent effective interactions consistently generated in the process. We call implicit renormalization the usual procedure of cutoff effective theories in which the high-energy modes above the cutoff scale are simply removed and their effects are included through parametrized cutoff dependent counterterms whose strengths are fixed by fitting low-energy data. We compare the effective interactions obtained in both schemes and find a wide range of cutoff scales where they overlap. We further analyze the role played by the one-pion exchange (OPE) considering a δ-shell plus OPE representation for the NN interaction.

Two nucleon systems atmπ∼450 MeVfrom lattice QCD

Nucleon-nucleon systems are studied with lattice quantum chromodynamics at a pion mass of $m_\pi\sim 450~{\rm MeV}$ in three spatial volumes using $n_f=2+1$ flavors of light quarks. At the quark masses employed in this work, the deuteron binding energy is calculated to be $B_d = 14.4^{+3.2}_{-2.6} ~{\rm MeV}$, while the dineutron is bound by $B_{nn} = 12.5^{+3.0}_{-5.0}~{\rm MeV}$. Over the range of energies that are studied, the S-wave scattering phase shifts calculated in the 1S0 and 3S1-3D1 channels are found to be similar to those in nature, and indicate repulsive short-range components of the interactions, consistent with phenomenological nucleon-nucleon interactions. In both channels, the phase shifts are determined at three energies that lie within the radius of convergence of the effective range expansion, allowing for constraints to be placed on the inverse scattering lengths and effective ranges. The extracted phase shifts allow for matching to nuclear effective field theories, from which low energy counterterms are extracted and issues of convergence are investigated. As part of the analysis, a detailed investigation of the single hadron sector is performed, enabling a precise determination of the violation of the Gell-Mann--Okubo mass relation. [An Erratum to the published version is included as an appendix. It details the impact of an error discovered in 2020 and corrects typographical errors.]

Effective field theory as a limit ofR-matrix theory for light nuclear reactions

We study the zero channel radius limit of Wigner's R-matrix theory for two cases, and show that it corresponds to non-relativistic effective quantum field theory. We begin with the simple problem of single-channel n-p elastic scattering in the 1S0 channel. The dependence of the R matrix width and level energy on the channel radius, "a" for fixed scattering length a0 and effective range r0 is determined. It is shown that these quantities have a simple pole for a critical value of the channel radius. The 3H(d,n)4He reaction cross section, analyzed with a two-channel effective field theory in the previous paper, is then examined using a two-channel, single-level R-matrix parametrization. The resulting S matrix is shown to be identical in these two representations in the limit that R-matrix channel radii are taken to zero. This equivalence is established by giving the relationship between the low-energy constants of the effective field theory (couplings and mass) and the R-matrix parameters (reduced width amplitudes and level energy). An excellent three-parameter fit to the observed astrophysical factor S is found for "unphysical" values of the reduced widths.

Nucleon-nucleon scattering parameters in the limit of SU(3) flavor symmetry

The scattering lengths and effective ranges that describe low-energy nucleon-nucleon scattering are calculated in the limit of SU(3)-flavor symmetry at the physical strange-quark mass with Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics. The calculations are performed with an isotropic clover discretization of the quark action in three volumes with spatial extents of L \sim 3.4 fm, 4.5fm and 6.7 fm, and with a lattice spacing of b \sim 0.145 fm. With determinations of the energies of the two-nucleon systems (both of which contain bound states at these up and down quark masses) at rest and moving in the lattice volume, Luscher's method is used to determine the low-energy phase shifts in each channel, from which the scattering length and effective range are obtained. The scattering parameters, in the 1S0 channel are found to be m_pi a^(1S0) = 9.50^{+0.78}_{-0.69}^{+1.10}_{-0.80} and m_pi r^(1S0) = {4.61^{+0.29}_{-0.31}^{+0.24}_{-0.26}, and in the 3S1 channel are m_pi a^(3S1) = 7.45^{+0.57}_{-0.53}^{+0.71}_{-0.49} and m_pi r^(3S1) = 3.71^{+0.28}_{-0.31}^{+0.28}_{-0.35}. These values are consistent with the two-nucleon system exhibiting Wigner's supermultiplet symmetry, which becomes exact in the limit of large-N_c. In both spin channels, the phase shifts change sign at higher momentum, near the start of the t-channel cut, indicating that the nuclear interactions have a repulsive core even at the SU(3)-symmetric point.

Improved convergence of chiral effective field theory for1S0ofNNscattering

It is argued that the fine-tuning due to the unnaturally large, generalized effective range in the 1S0 channel of NN scattering must be incorporated in order for one to obtain satisfactory convergence for chiral effective field theory. Without the proposition of perturbative one-pion exchange, an effective field theory with the spin-0, isospin-1 dibaryon is developed to account for this fine-tuning, and is demonstrated up to O(Q) where the leading irreducible two-pion exchange arises. The approach shown in the paper results in rapid convergence of the 1S0 partial-wave amplitude.

1S0 Nucleon Superfluidity in Neutron Star Matter

We investigate the nucleon superfluidity in the 1S0 channel in neutron star matter using the relativistic mean field theory and the BCS theory. We discuss particularly the influence of the isovector scalar interaction which is considered by exchanging δ meson on the nucleon superfluidity. It is found that the δ meson leads to a growth of the nucleon 1S0 pairing energy gaps in a middle density range of the existing nucleon superfluidity. In addition, when the density ρB > 0.36 fm−3, the proton 1S0 pairing energy gap obviously decreases. The density range of the proton 1S0 superfluidity is narrowed due to the presence of δ mesons. In our results, the δ meson not only changes the EOS and bulk properties but also changes the cooling properties of neutron stars.

ΛN and ΣN Interactions from Lattice QCD

We present our recent study on ΛN and ΣN (isospin I = 3/2) interactions by measuring Nambu–Bethe–Salpeter wave functions on the Lattice QCD. The lattice QCD calculation is performed by using the Nf = 2 + 1 gauge configurations generated by PACS-CS collaboration together with employing an improved method to obtain potentials in lattice QCD simulations. For the 1S0 channel, the central ΣN (I = 3/2) potential and the central ΛN (1S0) potential are found to be very similar. For the spin triplet (3S1−3D1) channels, the central ΛN(3S1−3D1) potential is attractive while the central ΣN(I = 3/2, 3S1−3D1) potentials is repulsive. Tensor potentials, on the other hand, are rather weak in both ΛN and ΣN(I = 3/2) systems.

Power counting and renormalization group invariance in the subtracted kernel method for the two-nucleon system

We apply the subtracted kernel method (SKM), a renormalization approach based on recursive multiple subtractions performed in the kernel of the scattering equation, to the chiral nucleon–nucleon (NN) interactions up to next-to-next-to-leading-order. We evaluate the phase-shifts in the 1S0 channel at each order in Weinberg’s power counting scheme and in a modified power counting scheme which yields a systematic power-law improvement. We also explicitly demonstrate that the SKM procedure is renormalization group invariant under the change of the subtraction scale through a non-relativistic Callan–Symanzik flow equation for the evolution of the renormalized NN interactions.

Time-slice velocity-map ion imaging studies of the photodissociation of NO in the vacuum ultraviolet region

The time-slice velocity-map ion imaging and the resonant four-wave mixing techniques are combined to study the photodissociation of NO in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) region around 13.5 eV above the ionization potential. The neutral atoms, i.e., N((2)D(o)), O((3)P(2)), O((3)P(1)), O((3)P(0)), and O((1)D(2)), are probed by exciting an autoionization line of O((1)D(2)) or N((2)D(o)), or an intermediate Rydberg state of O((3)P(0,1,2)). Old and new autoionization lines of O((1)D(2)) and N((2)D(o)) in this region have been measured and newer frequencies are given for them. The photodissociation channels producing N((2)D(o)) + O((3)P), N((2)D(o)) + O((1)D(2)), N((2)D(o)) + O((1)S(0)), and N((2)P(o)) + O((3)P) have all been identified. This is the first time that a single VUV photon has been used to study the photodissociation of NO in this energy region. Our measurements of the angular distributions show that the recoil anisotropy parameters (β) for all the dissociation channels except for the N((2)D(o)) + O((1)S(0)) channel are minus at each of the wavelengths used in the present study. Thus direct excitation of NO by a single VUV photon in this energy region leads to excitation of states with Σ or Δ symmetry (ΔΩ = ±1), explaining the observed perpendicular transition.

Partial-wave contributions to pairing in nuclei

We present a detailed study of partial-wave contributions of nuclear forces to pairing in nuclei. For T = 1, J = 0 pairing, partial waves beyond the standard 1S0 channel play an interesting role for the pair formation in nuclei. We explore the impact of including partial waves beyond the 1S0 channel on the odd-even mass staggering in semi-magic isotopic chains. The additional contributions are dominated by the repulsive 3P1 partial wave.