Two-body Momentum Distributions Research Articles

Densities and momentum distributions in A≤12 nuclei from chiral effective field theory interactions

This study presents calculations of one- and two-body densities in both coordinate and momentum space for various nuclei up to ${}^{12}$C, using the phenomenological AV18+UX and various Norfolk $N\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}N$ + $N\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}N\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}N$ $\ensuremath{\chi}$EFT interactions. It features new calculations of the pair density as a function of both pair separation and center-of-mass, as well as the two-body momentum distribution for short- and long-range pairs differentiated by a pair separation boundary. The full set of results are available online for general use by the nuclear physics community and are intended to provide useful insights into the short-range structure of nuclei and various reaction processes.

The nuclear contacts and short range correlations in nuclei

Atomic nuclei are complex strongly interacting systems and their exact theoretical description is a long-standing challenge. An approximate description of nuclei can be achieved by separating its short and long range structure. This separation of scales stands at the heart of the nuclear shell model and effective field theories that describe the long-range structure of the nucleus using a mean-field approximation. We present here an effective description of the complementary short-range structure using contact terms and stylized two-body asymptotic wave functions. The possibility to extract the nuclear contacts from experimental data is presented. Regions in the two-body momentum distribution dominated by high-momentum, close-proximity, nucleon pairs are identified and compared to experimental data. The amount of short-range correlated (SRC) nucleon pairs is determined and compared to measurements. Non-combinatorial isospin symmetry for SRC pairs is identified. The obtained one-body momentum distributions indicate dominance of SRC pairs above the nuclear Fermi-momentum.

Short-range correlations in nuclei with similarity renormalization group transformations

$\mathbf{Background:}$ Realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions induce short-range correlations in nuclei. To solve the many-body problem unitary transformations like the similarity renormalization group (SRG) are often used to soften the interactions. $\mathbf{Purpose:}$ Two-body densities can be used to illustrate how the SRG eliminates short-range correlations in the wave function. The short-range information can however be recovered by transforming the density operators. $\mathbf{Method:}$ The many-body problem is solved for $^4$He in the no core shell model (NCSM) with SRG transformed AV8' and chiral N3LO interactions. The NCSM wave functions are used to calculate two-body densities with bare and SRG transformed density operators in two-body approximation. $\mathbf{Results:}$ The two-body momentum distributions for AV8' and N3LO have similar high-momentum components up to relative momenta of about $2.5\,\mathrm{fm}^{-1}$, dominated by tensor correlations, but differ in their behavior at higher relative momenta. The contributions of many-body correlations are small for pairs with vanishing pair momentum but not negligible for the momentum distributions integrated over all pair momenta. Many-body correlations are induced by the strong tensor force and lead to a reshuffling of pairs between different spin-isospin channels. $\mathbf{Conclusions:}$ When using the SRG it is essential to use transformed operators for observables sensitive to short-range physics. Back-to-back pairs with vanishing pair momentum are the best tool to study short-range correlations.

Quantum Signature of Analog Hawking Radiation in Momentum Space.

We consider a sonic analog of a black hole realized in the one-dimensional flow of a Bose-Einstein condensate. Our theoretical analysis demonstrates that one- and two-body momentum distributions accessible by present-day experimental techniques provide clear direct evidence (i)of the occurrence of a sonic horizon, (ii)of the associated acoustic Hawking radiation, and (iii)of the quantum nature of the Hawking process. The signature of the quantum behavior persists even at temperatures larger than the chemical potential.

Nucleon momentum distributions, their spin-isospin dependence, and short-range correlations

The nucleon momentum distribution $n_A(k)$ for $A=$2, 3, 4, 16, and 40 nuclei is systematically analyzed in terms of wave functions resulting from advanced solutions of the nonrelativistic Schr\"{o}dinger equation, obtained within different many-body approaches. Particular attention is paid to the separation of the momentum distributions into the mean-field and short-range correlations (SRC) contributions. It is shown that at high values of the momentum $k$ the high-momentum components ($k\gtrsim 1.5-2$ fm$^{-1}$) of all nuclei considered are very similar, exhibiting the well-known scaling behavior with the mass number $A$, independently of the used many-body approach and the details of the bare $NN$ interaction. The number of $NN$ pairs in a given ($ST$) state, viz., ($ST$)=(10), (00), (01), and (11), and the contribution of these states to the nucleon momentum distributions are calculated. It is shown that, apart from the (00) state, which has very small effects, all other spin-isospin states contribute to the momentum distribution in a wide range of momenta. It is shown that that for all nuclei considered the momentum distributions in the states T=0 and T=1 exhibit at $k\gtrsim 1.5-2$ fm$^{-1}$ very similar behaviors, which represents strong evidence of the A-independent character of SRCs. The ratio $n_A(k)/n_D(k)$ is analyzed in detail stressing that in the SRC region it always increases with the momentum and the origin of such an increase is discussed and elucidated. The relationships between the one- and two-body momentum distributions, considered in a previous paper, are discussed and clarified, pointing out the relevant role played by the center-of-mass motion of a correlated pair in the (10) state. The relationship of the present approach with the many-body methods based upon low-momentum effective interactions is briefly discussed.

Universality of Short-Range Nucleon-Nucleon Correlations in Nuclei

We investigate the short-range correlations in light nuclei. The highly correlated many-body states are obtained with an explicitly correlated basis which enables us to get a precise solution of a many-body Schrodinger equation for a realistic interaction. We show two-body density distributions for the different spin-isospin channels calculated from three- and four-body states to investigate the short-range correlations between nucleon pairs. At distances below 1 fm a universal behavior is found which does not depend on the many-body states. The universality is also seen in high momentum components of the two-body momentum distributions.

Quantum Monte Carlo approaches to nuclear and atomic physics

Quantum Monte Carlo methods have proven to be valuable in the study of strongly correlated quantum systems, particularly nuclear physics and cold atomic gases. Historically, such ab initio simulations have been used to study properties of light nuclei, including spectra and form factors, low-energy scattering, and high-momentum properties including inclusive scattering and one- and two-body momentum distributions. More recently they have been used to study the properties of homogeneous and inhomogeneous neutron matter and cold atomic gases. There are close analogies between these seemingly diverse systems, including the equation of state, superfluid pairing, and linear response to external probes. In this paper, we compare and contrast results found in nuclear and cold atom physics. We show updated lattice results for the energy of the homogeneous unitary Fermi gas and comparisons with neutron matter, as well as for the dependence of the cold atom energy on the mass ratio between paired particles, which yields insights on the structure of the ground state. We also provide new lattice and continuum results for the harmonically trapped unitary gas, again comparing neutron matter and cold atoms.

Universality of short-range correlations in light nuclei

In this contribution, we investigate the structure of short-range correlations in many-body states. We obtain the highly correlated many-body states with an explicitly correlated basis which enables us to get a precise solution of a many-body Schrödinger equation for a realistic interaction. We show two-body density distributions calculated from three- and four-body states to investigate the short-range correlations between nucleon pairs. At distances below 1 fm a universal behavior is found which does not depend on the many-body states. The universality is also seen in the high momentum components of the two-body momentum distributions.

The one-body and two-body density matrices of finite nuclei with an appropriate treatment of the center-of-mass motion⋆

The one-body and two-body density matrices in coordinate space and their Fourier transforms in momentum space are studied for a nucleus (a nonrelativistic, self-bound finite system). Unlike the usual procedure, suitable for infinite or externally bound systems, they are determined as expectation values of appropriate intrinsic operators, dependent on the relative coordinates and momenta (Jacobi variables) and acting on intrinsic wavefunctions of nuclear states. Thus, translational invariance (TI) is respected. When handling such intrinsic quantities, we use an algebraic technique based upon the Cartesian representation, in which the coordinate and momentum operators are linear combinations of the creation and annihilation operators a^+ and a for oscillator quanta. Each of the relevant multiplicative operators can then be reduced to the form: one exponential of the set {a^+} times other exponential of the set {a}. In the course of such a normal-ordering procedure we offer a fresh look at the appearance of Tassie-Barker factors, and point out other model-independent results. The intrinsic wavefunction of the nucleus in its ground state is constructed from a nontranslationally-invariant (nTI) one via existing projection techniques. As an illustration, the one-body and two-body momentum distributions (MDs) for the 4He nucleus are calculated with the Slater determinant of the harmonic-oscillator model as the trial, nTI wavefunction. We find that the TI introduces important effects in the MDs.

ON THE TWO-BODY MOMENTUM DISTRIBUTION IN FINITE NUCLEI

We present compact analytic expressions for the two-body momentum distribution η2(p1, p2) in Z=N closed-shell nuclei derived within the context of the independent particle shell model. Results are derived for the nucleus 16 O . The effect of dynamical short-range correlations is estimated using Jastrow-type correlation functions in the case of the nucleus 4 He .

The two-body momentum distribution in finite nuclei

The two-body momentum distribution η 2( p → 1, p → 2) of nuclei is studied. First, a compact analytical expression is derived for Z=N, ℓ-closed nuclei, within the context of the independent particle shell model. Application to the light closed-shell nucleus 16O is included and discussed. Next, the effect of dynamical, short-range correlations is investigated in the case of the light nucleus 4He, by including Jastrow-type correlations in the formalism. The effect is significant for large values of p 1 and p 2 and for angles between the vectors p → 1 and p → 2 close to γ=180°and 0°.

Beyond the one-body momentum distribution in finite nuclei

The generalized momentum distribution η(p̄, Q̄) and the two-body momentum distribution η(p̄ 1, p̄ 2) of closed-shell nuclei in their ground state are studied using a harmonic oscillator basis. Interesting features rise from the finite nuclear size and Fermi statistics.