These lecture notes are addressed to PhD student and/or researchers who want a general overview of microscopic approaches based on mean-field and applied to nuclear dynamics. Our goal is to provide a good description of low energy heavy-ion collisions. We present both formal aspects and practical applications of the time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) theory. The TDHF approach gives a mean field dynamics of the system under the assumption that particles evolve independently in their self-consistent average field. As an example, we study the fusion of both spherical and deformed nuclei with TDHF. We also focus on nucleon transfer which may occur between nuclei below the barrier. These studies allow us to specify the range of applications of TDHF in one hand, and, on the other hand, its intrinsic limitations: absence of tunneling below the Coulomb barrier, missing dissipative effects and/or quantum fluctuations. Time-dependent mean-field theories should be improved to properly account for these effects. Several approaches, generically named "beyond TDHF" are presented which account for instance for pairing and/or direct nucleon-nucleon collisions. Finally we discuss recent progresses in exact ab-initio methods based on the stochastic mean-field concept.
Transfer reactions are an important tool in nuclear astrophysics. These reactions allow us to identify states in nuclei and to find the corresponding energies, to determine if these states can contribute to astrophysical nuclear reactions and ultimately to determine the strength of that contribution. In this paper, the basic details of how transfer reactions may be used in nuclear astrophysics are set out along with some common pitfalls to avoid.
\item[Background] Multinucleon transfer reaction at low-energy collisions is considered to be a promising method for the production of new exotic nuclei, which are difficult to be produced by other methods. The theoretical studies are required to provide reliable predictions for the experiments and promote the understanding of the microscopic mechanism in multinucleon transfer reactions. \item[Purpose] We provide a predictive approach for production cross sections, and testify how and to what extent the microscopic approach works well in multinucleon transfer reaction. \item[Methods] We employ…
We studied the complete dynamics of the proton-induced spallation process with the microscopic framework of the Constrained Molecular Dynamics (CoMD) Model. We performed calculations of proton-induced spallation reactions on 181Ta, 208Pb, and 238U targets with the CoMD model and compared the results with a standard two-step approach based on an intranuclear cascade model (INC) followed by a statistical deexcitation model. The calculations were also compared with recent experimental data from the literature. Our calculations showed an overall satisfactory agreement with the experimental data an…
Two-neutron transfer reactions are studied within the interacting boson model based on the nuclear energy density functional theory. Constrained self-consistent mean-field calculations with the Skyrme energy density functional are performed to provide microscopic input to completely determine the Hamiltonian of the IBM. Spectroscopic properties are calculated only from the nucleonic degrees of freedom. This method is applied to study the $(t,p)$ and $(p,t)$ transfer reactions in the assorted set of rare-earth nuclei $^{146-158}$Sm, $^{148-160}$Gd, and $^{150-162}$Dy, where spherical-to-axially…
We present an introduction to ab initio nuclear theory with a focus on nuclear reactions. After a high-level overview of ab initio approaches in nuclear physics, we give a more detailed description of the no-core shell model technique equivalent to a large extent to configuration-interaction methods applied in quantum chemistry. We then introduce the no-core shell model with continuum approach that provides a quantum many-body description of nuclear reactions. After a brief review of nuclear reactions important for astrophysics, we present examples of results of ab initio calculations of radia…
Time-dependent Hartree--Fock (TDHF) method has been applied to various low-energy nuclear reactions, such as fusion, fission, and multinucleon transfer reactions. In this Mini Review, we summarize recent attempts to bridge a microscopic nuclear reaction theory, TDHF, and a macroscopic aspect of nuclear reactions through nucleus--nucleus potentials and energy dissipation from macroscopic degrees of freedom to microscopic ones obtained from TDHF in various colliding systems from light to heavy mass regions.
In this brief review we discuss the basic theoretical concepts used in the experimental studies of the most common cases of direct reactions such as (a) elastic scattering, (b) inelastic scattering, (c) Coulomb excitation, (d) transfer reactions and (e) breakup reactions.
The clear separation of scales observed in halo nuclei between the extended halo and the compact core makes these exotic nuclei a perfect subject for Effective Field Theory (EFT). Such description leads to a systematic expansion of the core-halo Hamiltonian, which naturally orders the nuclear-structure observables. In this short review, I show the advantage there is to include Halo-EFT descriptions within precise models of reactions. It helps identifying the nuclear-structure observables that matter in the description of the reactions, and enables us to easily bridge predictions of nuclear-str…
We propose an extension of the Continuum Discretized Coupled Channels (CDCC) method, where the projectile is described by a microscopic cluster model. This microscopic generalization (MCDCC) only relies on nucleon-target interactions, and therefore presents an important predictive power. Core excitations can be included without any further parameter. As an example we investigate the $\lipb$ elastic scattering at $E_{lab}=27$ and 35 MeV. The $^7$Li nucleus is known to present an $α+t$ cluster structure, and is well described by the Resonating Group Method. An excellent agreement is obtained for…
Nuclear multifragmentation is an important phenomenon, the study of which can throw light on reaction mechanism in heavy ion collisions at intermediate and high energies. Based on statistical and dynamical model studies, this thesis is concentrated mainly on, the following three aspects of nuclear multifragmentation reactions namely (i) production of exotic nuclei which are normally not available in the laboratory (ii) nuclear symmetry energy from heavy ion collisions at intermediate energies and (iii) Nuclear liquid-gas phase transition. In addition to these equivalence of statistical ensembl…
The ${}^{12}\mathrm{C} + {}^{12}\mathrm{C}$ fusion reaction plays a vital role in the explosive phenomena of the universe. The resonances in the Gamow window rule its reaction rate and products. Hence, the determination of the resonance parameters by nuclear models is indispensable as the direct measurement is not feasible. Here, for the first time, we report the resonances in the ${}^{12}\mathrm{C} + {}^{12}\mathrm{C}$ fusion reaction described by a full-microscopic nuclear model. The model plausibly reproduces the measured low-energy astrophysical $S$-factors and predicts the resonances in t…
Covariant density functional theory and three-dimensional tilted axis cranking are used to investigate multiple chirality in nuclear rotation for the first time in a fully self-consistent and microscopic way. Two distinct sets of chiral solutions with negative and positive parities, respectively, are found in the nucleus 106Rh. The negative-parity solutions reproduce well the corresponding experimental spectrum as well as the B(M1)/B(E2) ratios of the transition strengths. This indicates that a predicted positive-parity chiral band should also exist. Therefore, it provides a further strong hin…
Nuclear reaction rate ($λ$) is a significant factor in the process of nucleosynthesis. A multi-layer directed-weighted nuclear reaction network in which the reaction rate as the weight, and neutron, proton, $^4$He and the remainder nuclei as the criterion for different reaction-layers is for the first time built based on all thermonuclear reactions in the JINA REACLIB database. Our results show that with the increase of the stellar temperature ($T_{9}$), the distribution of nuclear reaction rates on the $R$-layer network demonstrates a transition from unimodal to bimodal distributions. Nuclei …
Based on an isospin dependent transport model IBUU, effects of high density behavior of nuclear symmetry energy in the proton-rich reaction $^{22}$Si+$^{22}$Si at a beam energy of 400 MeV/nucleon are studied. It is found that the symmetry energy affects $π^{+}$ production more than $π^{-}$. More interestingly, comparing with neutron-rich reactions, for $π^{-}/π^{+}$ and dense matter's N/Z ratios, effects of symmetry energy in the proton-rich reaction both show contrary behaviors. The practical experiment by using the proton-rich reaction $^{22}$Si+$^{40}$Ca to study nuclear symmetry energy are…
The theoretical approach to a sequential heavy ion double charge exchange reaction is presented. A brief introduction into the formal theory of second-order nuclear reactions and their application to Double Single Charge Exchange (DSCE) reactions by distorted wave theory is given, thereby completing the theoretical background to our recent work [1]. Formally, the DSCE reaction amplitudes are shown to be separable into superpositions of distortion factors, accounting for initial and final state ion--ion interactions, and nuclear matrix elements. A broad space is given to the construction of nuc…
Within the Time Dependent Hartree Fock (TDHF) approach, we investigate the impact of several ingredients of the nuclear effective interaction, such as incompressibility, symmetry energy, effective mass, derivative of the Lane potential and surface terms on the exit channel (fusion vs quasifission) observed in the reaction $^{238}$U+$^{40}$Ca, close to the Coulomb barrier. Our results show that all the ingredients listed above contribute to the competition between fusion and quasifission processes, however the leading role in determining the outcome of the reaction is played by incompressibilit…
The knowledge of the nuclear matrix elements for the neutrinoless double beta decay is fundamental for neutrino physics. In this paper, an innovative technique to extract information on the nuclear matrix elements by measuring the cross section of a double charge exchange nuclear reaction is proposed. The basic point is that the initial and final state wave functions in the two processes are the same and the transition operators are similar. The double charge exchange cross sections can be factorized in a nuclear structure term containing the matrix elements and a nuclear reaction factor. Firs…
We describe low-lying collective excitations of atomic nuclei with the multi-reference covariant density functional theory, and combine them with coupled-channels calculations for heavy-ion fusion reactions at energies around the Coulomb barrier. To this end, we use the calculated transition strengths among several collective states as inputs to the coupled-channels calculations. This approach provides a natural way to describe anharmonic multi-phonon excitations as well as a deviation of rotational excitations from a simple rigid rotor. We apply this method to subbarrier fusion reactions of $…
Three-body nuclear reactions in two-nucleon plus core systems are described in the framework of exact scattering equations including the core excitation. A nucleon-core optical potential is constructed that can be easily adjusted to the reference potential and thereby to the experimental two-body data, if available. This constitutes an important improvement over the simple deformation of the potential used previously that violated the original fit to the data. Predictions for elastic, inelastic, and transfer reactions involving $^{10}{Be}$ and $^{24}{Mg}$ nuclear cores are obtained. The new op…
These notes summarise the lectures I gave during the summer school "International Scientific Meeting on Nuclear Physics" at La Rábida in Spain in June 2018. They offer an introduction to nuclear-reaction theory, starting with the basics in quantum scattering theory followed by the main models used to describe breakup reactions: the Continuum Discretised Coupled Channel method (CDCC),the Time-Dependent approach (TD) and the eikonal approximation. These models are illustrated on the study of the exotic structure of halo nuclei.
Opportunities for investigations of nuclear reactions at the future nuclear physics facilities such as radioactive ion beam facilities and high-power laser facilities are considered. Post-accelerated radioactive ion beams offer possibilities for study of the role of isospin asymmetry in the reaction mechanisms at various beam energies. Fission barrier heights of neutron-deficient nuclei can be directly determined at low energies. Post-accelerated radioactive ion beams, specifically at the future facilities such as HIE-ISOLDE, SPIRAL-2 or RAON-RISP can be also considered as a candidate for prod…
The microscopic effective reaction theory is applied to deuteron-induced reactions. A reaction model-space characterized by a $p+n+{\rm A}$ three-body model is adopted, where A is the target nucleus, and the nucleon-target potential is described by a microscopic folding model based on an effective nucleon-nucleon interaction in nuclear medium and a one-body nuclear density of A. The three-body scattering wave function in the model space is obtained with the continuum-discretized coupled-channels method (CDCC), and the eikonal reaction theory (ERT), an extension of CDCC, is applied to the calcu…
Radiative capture reactions for low energy protons have been theoretically studied for Ni and Cu isotopes using the microscopic optical model. The optical potential has been obtained in the folding model using different microscopic interactions with the nuclear densities from Relativistic Mean Field calculations. The calculated total cross sections as well as the cross sections for individually low lying levels have been compared with measurements involving stable nuclear targets. Rates for the rapid proton capture process have been evaluated for astrophysically important reactions.
Microscopic optical potentials obtained by folding the DDM3Y interaction with the densities from Relativistic Mean Field approach have been utilized to evaluate S-factors of low-energy $(p,γ)$ reactions in mass 60-80 region and to compare with experiments. The Lagrangian density FSU Gold has been employed. Astrophysical rates for important proton capture reactions have been calculated to study the behaviour of rapid proton nucleosynthesis for waiting point nuclei with mass less than A=80.
Low energy proton capture reactions have been studied in statistical model using the semi-microscopic optical potential in the mass range A=110-125. Nuclear density obtained from relativistic mean field calculation has been folded with nucleon-nucleon interaction to obtain the optical potential. Theoretical results have been compared with experimental measurements to normalize the potential. Results have also been compared with a standard calculation available in the literature.
The past two decades have witnessed tremendous progress in the microscopic description of atomic nuclei. The Topical Review `The Future of Nuclear Structure' aims at summarizing the current state-of-the-art microscopic calculations in Nuclear Theory and to give a useful reference for young researches who wish to learn more about this exciting discipline.
Photo nuclear reactions are shown to be used for studying neutrino/weak nuclear responses involved in astro-neutrino nuclear interactions and double beta decays. Charged current weak responses for ground and excited states are studied by using photo nuclear reactions through isobaric analog states of those states, while neutral current weak responses for excited states are studied by using photo nuclear reactions through the excited states. The weak interaction strengths are studied by measuring the cross sections of the photo nuclear reactions, and the spin and parity of the state are studied…
We present a quantum Monte Carlo method with exact projection on parity and angular momentum that is free of sign-problems for seniority-conserving nuclear interactions. This technique allows a microscopic calculation of angular momentum and parity projected nuclear level densities. We present results for the $^{55}$Fe, $^{56}$Fe and $^{57}$Fe isotopes. Signatures of the pairing phase transition are observed in the angular momentum distribution of the nuclear level density.
The relevant energy ranges for stellar nuclear reactions are introduced. Low-energy compound and direct reactions are discussed. Stellar modifications of the cross sections are presented. Implications for experiments are outlined.
The spectroscopic factor arises from short-range effects in the nuclear wave function. On the other hand, cross sections for external capture reactions, such as $^7$Be$(p,γ)^8$B at low energies, depend primarily on the asymptotic normalization of the bound-state wave function -- a long-range property. We investigate the relationship between potential models and the full many-body problem to illustrate how microscopic substructure effects arise naturally in the relevant transition matrix element and can be (in part) accounted for by a spectroscopic factor.
The understanding of the fusion probability is of particular importance to reveal the mechanism of producing superheavy elements. We present a microscopic study of the compound nucleus formation by combining time-dependent density functional theory, coupled-channels approach, and dynamical diffusion models. The fusion probability and compound nucleus formation cross sections for cold-fusion reactions $^{48}$Ca+$^{208}$Pb, $^{50}$Ti+$^{208}$Pb, and $^{54}$Cr+$^{208}$Pb are investigated and it is found that the deduced capture barriers, capture cross sections for these reactions are consistent w…
A microscopic nuclear equation of state compatible with all current astrophysical constraints constructed within the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock formalism is presented and extended in a consistent way to finite temperature. The effects of finite temperature on the properties of neutron stars are studied in detail and a universal relation regarding stellar stability is proposed.
Heavy-ion reactions induced by neutron-rich nuclei provide a unique means to investigate the equation of state of isospin-asymmetric nuclear matter, especially the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy. In particular, recent analyses of the isospin diffusion data in heavy-ion reactions have already put a stringent constraint on the nuclear symmetry energy around the nuclear matter saturation density. We review this exciting result and discuss its implications on nuclear effective interactions and the neutron skin thickness of heavy nuclei. In addition, we also review the theoretica…
An event generator for the description of nuclear reactions in the Fermi energy range is briefly introduced and first comparisons with experimental data are shown.
An isospin and spin dependent form of the equation of state for nuclear matter is presented. This form is used for the description of nucleon interaction in a new dynamic model. Preliminary calculations show that the new approach makes possible predicting the alpha structures appearing in the case of the ground state even-even nuclei.
A microscopic calculation of the equation of state for asymmetric nuclear matter is presented. We employ realistic nucleon-nucleon forces and operate within the Dirac-Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach to nuclear matter. The focal point of this paper is a (momentum-space) G-matrix which properly accounts for the asymmetry between protons and neutrons. This will merge naturally into the development of an effective interaction suitable for applications to asymmetric nuclei, which will be the object of extensive study in the future.
We present a microscopic dynamical study of the reactions involving three $^{4}$He clusters. We show that the much discussed triple-$α$ linear chain configuration of $^{12}$C is formed with a certain lifetime and subsequently decays into a triangular configuration of $^{12}$C and then to a configuration near the ground state. Time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) theory coupled with a density constraint is used to study the properties of these configurations. We find a sequence of dynamical transitions analogous to the suggested astrophysical mechanism for the formation of $^{12}$C nuclei.
The current status of transport theoretical models applicable to the physics of the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider is reviewed. The time evolution of microscopic reaction dynamics - from early, hard, partonic rescattering up to soft hadronic interactions close to freeze-out is analyzed and key observables linked to the different reaction stages are discussed.
Extraction of bulk nuclear properties by comparing reaction observables to results from semiclassical transport-model simulations is discussed. Specific properties include the nuclear viscosity, incompressibility and constraints on the nuclear pressure at supranormal densities.
A short overview of the direct reaction mechanism and the models used for the analysis of such processes is given. Nuclear reactions proceeding through the direct mechanism and involved in solar hydrogen burning are discussed. The significance of these nuclear reactions with respect to the solar neutrino problem is investigated.
The microscopic role of nuclear magnetism in rotating frame is investigated for the first time in the framework of the cranked relativistic mean field theory. It is shown that nuclear magnetism modifies the expectation values of single-particle spin, orbital and total angular momenta along the rotational axis effectively creating additional angular momentum. This effect leads to the increase of kinematic and dynamic moments of inertia at given rotational frequency and has an impact on effective alignments.
An ab-initio calculation of the inelastic neutral reaction of neutrino on 4He is presented, including realistic nuclear force and full final state interaction among the four nucleons. The calculation uses the powerful combintation of the Lorentz integral transform (LIT) method and the hyperspherical-harmonic effective interaction approach (EIHH). The neutrino - nucleus interaction is taken in the impulse approximation. With respect to previous calculations, the current work predicts an increased reaction cross-section by 10%-30% for neutrino temperature up to 15 MeV.
On the base of potential theory of light nuclei cluster photodisintegration the characteristics of Lithium nuclei cluster photodisintegration reactions are considered in the range of low and intermediate energies. For the inverse reaction the interference has an opposite character: in forward semisphere it is deconstructive, and in backward semisphere it is constructive. In the energy range above several MeV the E2-multipole becomes dominating. The effect of appearance of the node structure of the wave function of relative motion has been considered in the characteristics of Li cluster photodi…
The theoretical predictions of the primordial abundances of elements in the big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) are dominated by uncertainties in the input nuclear reaction rates. We investigate the effect of modifying these reaction rates on light element abundance yields in BBN by replacing the thirty-five reaction rates out of the existing eighty-eight. We have studied these yields as functions of evolution time or temperature. We find that using these new reaction rates results in only a little increase in helium mass fraction over that obtained previously in BBN calculations. This allows insig…
We incorporate the coupled-channels optical model into the statistical Hauser-Feshbach nuclear reaction theory, where the scattering matrix is diagonalized by performing the Engelbrecht-Weidenmüller transformation. This technique has been implemented in the coupled-channels optical model code ECIS by J. Raynal, and we extend this method so that all the open channels in a nucleon-induced reaction on a deformed nucleus can be calculated consistently.
We report on shell-model calculations employing effective interactions derived from a new realistic nucleon-nucleon (NN) potential based on chiral effective field theory. We present results for 18O, 134Te, and 210Po. Our results are in excellent agreement with experiment indicating a remarkable predictive power of the chiral NN potential for low-energy microscopic nuclear structure.
The R-function theory of Thomas is used to model neutron inelastic scattering and the fine, intermediate, and gross structure observed in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on a typical trading day.
The main features of nuclear reactions with participation of baryon resonances ($Δ$(1232), S(1535) and $Λ$(1405)), which are interpreted as a manifestation of the bound states of nucleus and corresponding meson are discussed.
Collective inertial mass coefficients with respect to translational, relative, and rotational motions are microscopically calculated, along the collective reaction path self-consistently determined, based on the adiabatic self-consistent collective coordinate (ASCC) method. The impact of the time-odd component of the mean-field potential on the inertial masses are investigated. The results are compared with those calculated with the cranking formulae. The inertial masses based on the ASCC method reproduce the exact total nuclear mass for the translational motion as well as the exact reduced ma…
Many more nuclear transitions have to be known in the determination of stellar reactivities for trans-iron nucleosynthesis than for reactions of light nuclei. This requires different theoretical and experimental approaches. Some of the issues specific for trans-iron nucleosynthesis are discussed.
The breakup cross sections in the reaction $^6$He+$^{12}$C are calculated at about 40 MeV/nucleon using the high-energy approximation (HEA) and with the help of microscopic optical potentials (OP) of interaction with the target nucleus $^{12}$C of the projectile nucleus fragments $^4$He and 2n. Considering the di-neutron $h$=2n as a single particle the relative motion $hα$ wave function is estimated so that to explain both the separation energy of $h$ in $^6$He and the rms radius of the latter. The stripping and absorbtion total cross sections are calculated and their sum is compared with the …
In this work we want to study quasielastic (p, n) exchange reactions using a semi-microscopic optical model derived in a previous work [1] based on a nuclear matter approach where the real and imaginary parts are given by the first and second order terms, respectively, of the mass operator obtained by a Brueckner-Hartree-Fock calculation using a G-matrix built up with an effective Gogny interaction. The study of these quasielastic reactions is performed within a Distorted Wave Born Approximation (DWBA) to evaluate the wave functions in the entrance and exit channels, which in turn are used to …
