Extending the Ab-initio Nuclear Many-Body Frontier with the Renormalization Group

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the study of a wide range of few- and many-body problems in nuclear structure using modern Renormalization Group (RG) and Effective Field Theory (EFT) methods. The proposed work falls into three categories; Inter-Nucleon Interactions and RG Methods, ab-initio Calculations of Finite Nuclei and Infinite Nuclear Matter, and Microscopically-Based Energy Density Functionals (EDFs) for Nuclei. The central goals of the proposed research are to study how renormalization group and effective field theory methods can be used to extend ab-initio calculations to medium-mass nuclei and beyond; to construct microscopically-based nuclear energy density functionals (EDFs) with improved predictive power away from known data; and to develop non-perturbative methods to provide controlled calculations of shell model (SM) effective Hamiltonians and effective operators for large-scale shell model applications (e.g., neutrinoless double beta decay). The projects in all three areas are intimately connected to fundamental questions in nuclear theory such as: What are the limits of nuclear stability? What are the masses of neutrinos?, and How do the properties of nuclei and nuclear matter emerge from underlying two- and three-nucleon (and higher) interactions? The proposed research will play an integral role in the development of model-independent few- and many-body calculations with controlled theoretical uncertainties, which will be crucial to provide theoretical guidance for rare isotope beam facilities and astrophysical applications. This project will have broader impacts by fostering inter-disciplinary connections and helping to build a strong and youthful scientific community in the United States. The complementary techniques of Effective Field Theory and the Renormalization Group are widely used in many areas of theoretical physics due to their universality and power of simplification. Therefore, our use of these modern and general techniques will enhance interactions with other disciplines such as condensed matter, atomic, and high energy theory. Similarly, the use of coupled-cluster and energy density functional methods for nuclei in this work will foster connections with quantum chemistry. Finally, the current project will provide graduate students and postdocs with a good balance of formal(analytical) and practical (numerical) work, which will serve as excellent preparation for a career in industry or academia.