The problem of pairing in the $^{1}$S$_{0}$ channel of finite nuclei is revisited. In nuclear matter forces of separable form can be adjusted to the bare nuclear force, to any phenomenological pairing interaction such as the Gogny force or to exact solutions of the gap equation. In finite nuclei, because of translational invariance, such forces are no longer separable. Using well known techniques of Talmi and Moshinsky we expand the matrix elements in a series of separable terms, which converges quickly preserving translational invariance and finite range. In this way the complicated problem of a cut-off at large momenta or energies inherent in other separable or zero range pairing forces is avoided. Applications in the framework of the relativistic Hartree Bogoliubov approach show that the pairing properties are depicted on almost the same footing as by the original pairing interaction not only in nuclear matter, but also in finite nuclei. This simple separable force can be easily applied for the investigation of pairing properties in nuclei far from stability as well as for further investigations going beyond mean field theory.
Excitation of pairing vibrations in superfluid nuclei is studied by using a kinetic model based on the Vlasov equation with pairing, derived from the time-dependent Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov theory. The anomalous density response function is used to find the monopole pairing mode and the dynamic variation of the pairing gap associated with this mode. The spectroscopic factor for the excitation of monopole pairing vibrations in two-neutron transfer reaction is estimated. It is found that the pairing correlations give rise to the same coherent contribution to the semiclassical spectroscopic factor…
I describe the foundation of a Density Functional Theory approach to include pairing correlations, which was applied to a variety of systems ranging from dilute fermions, to neutron stars and finite nuclei. Ground state properties as well as properties of excited states and time-dependent phenomena can be achieved in this manner within a formalism based on microscopic input.
The phase transitions in dense neutron matter with triplet pairing have been investigated. The spectrum of phases of the $^3P_2$-$^3F_2$ model, which adequately describes pairing in this system, is identified and classified with the aid of a separation method for solving BCS gap equations associated with pairing states of arbitrary angular-momentum content. In addition to usual solutions involving a single value of the magnetic quantum number (and its negative), there exist ten real multicomponent solutions. Five of the corresponding angle-dependent order parameters have nodes, and five do not…
We present a detailed discussion of the solution of Nambu-Gor'kov equations in superfluid nuclei, which provide a consistent framework to deal with the interplay between particle-hole and particle- particle channel, including the effects of the fragmentation of the quasiparticle strength and of the pairing interaction induced by the exchange of collective vibrations. The coupling between quasiparticle and vibrations is determined from the experimental polarizability of the low-lying collective surface vibrations. This coupling is used to renormalize the properties of quasiparticles obtained fr…
We investigated the superfluid properties of the inner crust of neutron stars, solving the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov equations in spherical Wigner-Seitz cells. Using realistic two-body interactions in the pairing channel, we studied in detail the Cooper-pair and the pairing-field spatial properties, together with the effect of the proton clusters on the neutron pairing gap. Calculations with effective pairing interactions are also presented, showing significant discrepancies with the results obtained with realistic pairing forces. At variance with recent studies on finite nuclei, the neutron coh…
Superfluid properties of the inner crust matter of neutron stars, formed by nuclear clusters immersed in a dilute neutron gas, are analysed in a self- consistent HFB approach. The calculations are performed with two pairing forces, fixed so as to obtain in infinite nuclear matter the pairing gaps provided by the Gogny force or by induced interactions. It is shown that the nuclear clusters can either suppress or enhance the pairing correlations inside the inner crust matter, depending on the density of the surrounding neutrons. The profile of the pairing field in the inner crust is rather simil…
The $T$=2 excitations in even-even $N$=$Z$ nuclei are calculated within the isospin cranked mean-field approach. The response of pairing correlations to rotation in isospace is investigated. It is shown that whereas the isovector pairing rather modestly modifies the single-particle moment of inertia in isospace, the isoscalar pairing strongly reduces its value. This reduction of the moments of inertia in isospace with respect to its rigid body value is a strong indicator of collective isoscalar pairing correlations. Beautiful analogies between the role of isovector pairing for the case of spat…
The effect nucleon dressing by scattering on the pairing gap in nuclear matter is discussed. Numerical results from self-consistent T-matrix calculations are compared to quasi-particle approximations. The dominant effect of scattering can be accounted for by a renormalization of the quasi-particle strength. The exponential sensitivity of the pairing gap and the critical temperature on the pairing strength makes it strongly dependent on many-body effects.
Superfluid states of symmetric nuclear matter with finite total momentum of Cooper pairs (nuclear LOFF phase) are studied with the use of Fermi-liquid theory in the model with Skyrme effective forces. It is considered the case of four-fold splitting of the excitation spectrum due to finite superfluid momentum and coupling of T=0 and T=1 pairing channels. It has been shown that at zero temperature the energy gap in triplet-singlet (TS) pairing channel (in spin and isospin spaces) for the SkM$^*$ force demonstrates double-valued behavior as a function of superfluid momentum. As a consequence, th…
Based on a microscopic description of superfluidity in overflowing nuclear systems, it is shown that continuum coupling plays an important role in the suppression, the persistence and the reentrance of pairing. In such systems, the structure of the drip-line nucleus determines the suppression and the persistence of superfluidity. The reentrance of pairing with increasing temperature leads to additional critical temperatures between the normal and superfluid phases.
With realistic HFB calculations, using the D1S Gogny force, we reveal a generic behavior of concentration of small sized Cooper pairs (2-3 fm) in the surface of superfluid nuclei. This study confirms and extends previous results given in the literature that use more schematic approaches.
It is shown that under changing density or temperature a nucleon Fermi superfluid can undergo a phase transition to an anisotropic superfluid state, characterized by nonvanishing gaps in pairing channels with singlet-singlet (SS) and triplet-singlet (TS) pairing of nucleons (in spin and isospin spaces). In the SS pairing channel nucleons are paired with nonzero orbital angular momentum. Such two-gap states can arise as a result of branching from the one-gap solution of the self-consistent equations, describing SS or TS pairing of nucleons, that depends on the relationship between SS and TS cou…
This work aims at a global assessment of the effect of the density dependence of the zero-range pairing interaction. Systematic Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations with the volume, surface and mixed pairing forces are carried out to study the pairing gaps in even-even nuclei over the whole nuclear chart. Calculations are also done in coordinate representation for unstable semi-magic even-even nuclei. The calculated pairing gaps are compared with empirical values from four different odd-even staggering formulae. Calculations with the three pairing interactions are comparable for most nu…
For studying the collective pairing excitations of nuclei, the two-nucleon transfer reactions in superfluid nuclei (the pairing gap of the ground state is not zero), in particular, the (p,t) reaction, are of the greatest interest. A simple model of monopole pairing excitations in superfluid nuclei on the basis of the semiclassical time-dependent Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov theory in the limit of small amplitudes is considered. Using the anomalous density response function, the monopole pairing mode in the energy region of double pairing gap and the variation of the pairing gap associated with this…
We investigate the superfluid properties of the inner crust of neutron stars at finite temperature for different pairing functionals. We generalize the formalism adopted in previous article to include the effect of the temperature to calculate the specific heat of each given Wigner-Seitz cell. The calculations are done for two pairing forces, Gogny D1 and $V_{\text{low-k}}$, with finite range and a density dependent contact interaction. We compare in such a way the effect of the pairing strength and of the range on the thermal properties of the inner crust.
We show that within the framework of a simple local nuclear energy density functional (EDF), one can describe accurately the one-- and two--nucleon separation energies of semi--magic nuclei. While for the normal part of the EDF we use previously suggested parameterizations, for the superfluid part of the EDF we use the simplest possible local form compatible with known nuclear symmetries.
This work presents an older, but still interesting description of a superfluid condensate with two components (protons and neutrons), confined by time-dependent deformed harmonic oscillator potentials either in collective uniform rotation, or opposite angular oscillation.
We explore novel features of a nonrelativistic fermionic superfluid in which the pairing interaction includes a contribution from the exchange of a dynamical bosonic mode. We show that the dynamical boson exchange (DBE), which causes a retarded pairing interaction and thus violates the Galilean invariance of the fermion sector, generically leads to a quantum reduction of the superfluid density and hence a nonzero normal fraction even at zero temperature. For spin-singlet pairing, the DBE also leads to a nonvanishing spin susceptibility at zero temperature, providing a mechanism for the coexist…
The induced pairing interaction arising from the exchange of collective surface vibrations among nucleons moving in time reversal states close to the Fermi energy is found to lead to values of the pairing gap which are similar to those experimentally observed.
Rapidly rotating nuclei provide us good testing grounds to study the pairing correlations; in fact, the transition from the superfluid to the normal phase is realized at high-spin states. The role played by the pairing correlations is quite different in these two phases: The static (BCS like mean-field) contribution is dominant in the superfluid phase, while the dynamic fluctuations beyond the mean-field approximation are important in the normal phase. The influence of the pairing fluctuations on the high-spin rotational spectra and moments of inertia is discussed.
We calculate the binding energy and deformation parameter for light nuclei with and without pairing using a deformed relativistic mean field model. The role of BCS-type pairing effect is analyzed for Ne and F isotopes. The calculated odd-even staggering and the deformation parameters argue strongly against the role of pairing in the light nuclei.
Oscillations of mainly surface character (S=0 modes) give rise, in atomic nuclei, to an attractive (induced) pairing interaction, while spin (S=1) modes of mainly volume character generate a repulsive interaction, the net effect being an attraction which accounts for a sizeable fraction of the experimental pairing gap. Suppressing the particle-vibration coupling mediated by the proton degrees of freedom, i.e., mimicking neutron matter, the total surface plus spin-induced pairing interaction becomes repulsive.
We point out a strong influence of the pairing force on the size of the two neutron Cooper pair in $^{11}$Li, and to a lesser extent also in $^6$He. It seems that these are quite unique situations, since Cooper pair sizes of stable superfluid nuclei are very little influenced by the intensity of pairing, as recently reported. We explore the difference between $^{11}$Li and heavier superfulid nuclei, and discuss reasons for the exceptional situation in $^{11}$Li.
The 1S0 pairing gap in isospin-symmetric nuclear matter and finite nuclei is investigated using the chiral nucleon-nucleon potential at the N3LO order in the two-body sector, and the N2LO order in the three-body sector. To include realistic nuclear forces in RHB (Relativistic Hartree Bolgoliubov) calculations we rely on a separable form of the pairing interaction adjusted to the bare nuclear force. The separable pairing force is applied to the analysis of pairing properties for several isotopic and isotonic chains of spherical nuclei.
A simple superfluid model with an effective four body interaction of monopole pairing type is used to explain the staggering of the charge radii in the isotope chains. The contribution of deformation and of the particle number projection are analyzed for the Sn isotopes. Good results are obtained for the staggering parameters and neutron pairing energies.
Effects of pairing with isospin $T=0$ and $T=1$ are systematically studied in a model, which is based on a realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction and allows to describe the transition from infinite nuclear matter to finite nuclei. Special attention is paid to the development of the spin-orbit term in the mean field of nucleons in finite nuclei. The spin-orbit term yields a drastic suppression of $T=0$ proton-neutron pairing but does not lead to a complete disappearance in finite nuclei. Arguments are presented, why no clear evidence of $T=0$ pairing can be observed in the binding energies of fi…
We present the first study of pairing in nuclei including three-nucleon forces. We perform systematic calculations of the odd-even mass staggering generated using a microscopic pairing interaction at first order in chiral low-momentum interactions. Significant repulsive contributions from the leading chiral three-nucleon forces are found. Two- and three-nucleon interactions combined account for approximately 70% of the experimental pairing gaps, which leaves room for self-energy and induced interaction effects that are expected to be overall attractive in nuclei.
Finite temperature Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations are performed in Sn isotopes using Skyrme and zero-range, density-dependent pairing interactions. For both stable and very neutron-rich nuclei the critical temperature at which pairing correlations vanish is independent of the volume/surface nature of the pairing interaction. The value of the critical temperature follows approximatively the empirical rule T$_c$ $\simeq$ 0.5 $Δ_{T=0}$ for all the calculated isotopes, showing that the critical temperature could be deduced from the pairing gap at zero temperature. On the other hand, the pair…
We investigate the role the interweaving of surface vibrations and nucleon motion has on Cooper pair formation in spherical superfluid nuclei. A quantitative calculation of the state-dependent pairing gap requires to go beyond the quasiparticle approximation, treating in detail the breaking of the single-particle strength and of the associated poles. This is done solving self-consistently the Dyson equation, including both a bare nucleon-nucleon interaction (which for simplicity we choose as a monopole-pairing force of constant matrix elements g) and an induced interaction arizing from the exc…
Recently, Allmond and Wood [Phys. Lett. B 767, 226 (2017)] were able to extract the three moments of inertia $I_k$ of a dozen of superfluid triaxial nuclei from experimental data. The observed dependence of the $I_k$ on the deformation parameters is rather smooth. Here we show that these moments of inertia can be surprisingly well explained by a semiclassical cranked Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) calculation in which the velocity field is a simple superposition of rigid and irrotational flows.
A brief review of recent microscopic calculations of nuclear pairing gap is given. A semi-microscopic model is suggested in which the ab-initio effective pairing interaction is supplemented with a small phenomenological addendum. It involves a parameter which is universal for all medium and heavy nuclei. Calculations for several isotopic and isotonic chains of semi-magic nuclei confirm the relevance of the model.
Particle and pairing densities in spherical even-even neutron-rich nuclei are studied within the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach with the density-dependent pairing interaction. The influence of the density dependence of the pairing interaction on asymptotic properties of nucleonic distributions are analyzed. It is demonstrated that the size of the neutron halo dramatically depends on the behavior of the pairing interaction at low density.
By introducing the intrinsic pair operators which commute with number fluctuation operator, a new formalism is given for the number-conserving description of the pairing correlations. The difficulty in the conventional RPA treatment for pairing rotation is removed.
Cooper pair sizes are evaluated in a simple harmonic oscillator model reproducing the values of sophisticated HFB calculations. Underlying reasons for the very small sizes of 2.0-2.5 fm of Cooper pairs in the surface of nuclei are analysed. It is shown that the confining properties of the nuclear volume is the dominating effect. It is argued that for Cooper pair sizes LDA is particularly inadapted.
The quasiclassically exact solution for the second inertial parameter $\cal B$ is found in self-consistent way. It is shown that superdeformation and nonuniform pairing arising from the rotation induced pair density significantly reduce this inertial parameter. The different limiting cases for $\cal B$, which allow to study an interplay between rapid rotation, pairing correlations, and mean field deformation, are considered. The new signature for the transition from pairing to normal phase is suggested in terms of the variation of ${\cal B}/{\cal A}$ versus spin. Experimental data indicate the…
We present a number conserving particle-hole RPA theory for collective excitations in the transition from normal to superfluid nuclei. The method derives from an RPA theory developed long ago in quantum chemistry using antisymmetric geminal powers, or equivalently number projected HFB states, as reference states. We show within a minimal model of pairing plus monopole interactions that the number conserving particle-hole RPA excitations evolve smoothly across the superfluid phase transition close to the exact results, contrary to particle-hole RPA in the normal phase and quasiparticle RPA in t…
Superfluidity in fermionic systems originates from pairing of fermions, and Bose condensation of these so-called Cooper pairs. The Cooper pairs are usually made of fermions of different species; for example in superconductors they are pairs of electrons with opposite spins. Thus the most favorable situation for pairing and superfluidity is when the two species of fermions that form pairs have the same density. This paper studies the possible superfluid states when the two pairing species have different densities, and show that the resultant states have remarkable similarities to the phases of …
Nuclear superfludity in exotic nuclei close to the drip lines and in the inner crust matter of neutron stars have common features which can be treated with the same theoretical tools. In the first part of my lecture I discuss how two such tools, namely the HFB approach and the linear response theory can be used to describe the pairing correlations in weakly bound nuclei, in which the unbound part of the energy spectrum becomes important. Then, using the same models, I shall discuss how the nuclear superfluidity can affect the thermal properties of the inner crust of neutron stars.
A cranked mean-field model with two-body T=1 and T=0 pairing interactions is presented. Approximate projection onto good particle-number is enforced via an extended Lipkin-Nogami scheme. Our calculations suggest the simultaneous presence of both T=0 and T=1 pairing modes in N=Z nuclei. The transitions between different pairing phases are discussed as a function of neutron/proton excess, T$_z$, and rotational frequency, $\hbarω$. The additional binding energy due to the T=0 $np$-pairing correlations, is suggested as a possible microscopic explanation of the Wigner energy term in even-even nucle…
The isoscalar proton-neutron pairing and isovector pairing, including both isovector proton-neutron pairing and like-particle pairing, are treated in a formalism which conserves exactly the particle number and the isospin. The formalism is designed for self-conjugate (N=Z) systems of nucleons moving in axially deformed mean fields and interacting through the most general isovector and isoscalar pairing interactions. The ground state of these systems is described by a superposition of two types of condensates, i.e., condensates of isovector quartets, built by two isovector pairs coupled to the …
The quantum deformation concept is applied to a study of isovector pairing correlations in nuclei of the mass 40<A<100 region. While the non-deformed (q -> 1) limit of the theory provides a reasonable global estimate for strength parameters of the pairing interaction, the results show that the q-deformation plays a significant role in understanding higher-order effects in the interaction.
Following a brief reminder of how the pairing model can be solved exactly, we describe how this can be used to address two interesting issues in nuclear structure physics. One concerns the mechanism for realizing superconductivity in finite nuclei and the other concerns the role of the nucleon Pauli principle in producing $sd$ dominance in interacting boson models of nuclei.
We propose a simple quartet condensation model (QCM) which describes with very high accuracy the isovector pairing correlations in self-conjugate nuclei. The quartets have an alpha-like structure and are formed by collective isovector pairs. The accuracy of the QCM is tested for N=Z nuclei for which exact shell model diagonalizations can be performed. The calculations are done with two isovector pairing forces, one extracted from standard shell model interactions and the other of seniority type, acting, respectively, upon spherical and axially-deformed single-particle states. It is shown that …
It is shown that under lowering density or temperature a nucleon Fermi superfluid can undergo a phase transition to a new superfluid state corresponding to superposition of states with singlet-triplet (ST) and triplet-singlet (TS) pairing of nucleons (in spin and isospin spaces). Such states arise as a result of branching from one-gap solution of the self-consistent equations, describing ST pairing of nucleons. The density and temperature dependence of the order parameters for new two-gap solutions is determined in the model with Skyrme effective forces.
Ultracold atomic gases and low-density neutron matter are unique in that they exhibit pairing gaps comparable to the Fermi energy which in this sense are the largest in the laboratory and in nature, respectively. This strong pairing regime, or the crossover between BCS and BEC regimes, requires non-perturbative treatments. We describe Quantum Monte Carlo results useful to understand the properties of these systems, including infinite homogeneous matter and trapped inhomogeneous gases.
We investigate the effects of pairing fluctuations in fermionic superfluids/superconductors where pairing occurs among three species (colors) of fermions. Such color superfluids/superconductors can be realized in three-component atomic Fermi gases and in dense quark matter. The superfluidity/superconductivity is characterized by a three-component order parameter which denotes the pairing among the three colors of fermions. Due to the SU$(3)$ symmetry of the Hamiltonian, one color does not participate pairing. This branch of fermionic excitation is gapless in the naive BCS mean-field descriptio…
We non-perturbatively study pairing in the high-temperature regime of polarized unitary two-component Fermi gases by extracting the pair-momentum distribution and shot-noise correlations. Whereas the pair-momentum distribution allows us to analyze the propagation of pairs composed of one spin-up and one spin-down fermion, shot-noise correlations provide us with a tomographic insight into pairing correlations around the Fermi surfaces associated with the two species. Assuming that the dominant pairing patterns right above the superfluid transition also govern the formation of condensates in the…
We investigate effects of thermal and quantum fluctuations of the superfluid order parameter in $^1S_{0}$ superfluids in neutron stars. We construct a separable potential to reproduce the $^1S_{0}$ phase shift reconstructed by using the partial wave analysis from nucleon scattering data. We include superfluid fluctuations within a strong-coupling approximation developed by Nozières and Schmitt-Rink and determine self-consistently the superfluid order parameter as well as the chemical potential. We show that the quantum depletion, which gives a fraction of noncondensed neutrons at zero temperat…
In a simple model it is demonstrated that the neutron star surface temperature evolution is sensitive to the phase state of the triplet superfluid condensate. A multicomponent triplet pairing of superfluid neutrons in the core of a neutron star with participation of several magnetic quantum numbers leads to neutrino energy losses exceeding the losses from the unicomponent pairing. A phase transition of the neutron condensate into the multicomponent state triggers more rapid cooling of superfluid core in neutron stars. This makes it possible to simulate an anomalously rapid cooling of neutron s…
In this chapter we review recent experimental and theoretical work on various novel superfluid phases in fermion systems, that result from pairing fermions of different species with unequal densities. After briefly reviewing existing experimental work in superconductors subject to a strong magnetic field and trapped cold fermionic atom systems, we discuss how to characterize the possible pairing phases based on their symmetry properties, and the structure/topology of the Fermi surface(s) formed by the unpaired fermions due to the density imbalance. We also discuss possible experimental probes …
We study the pairing dynamics of polar states in a single species p-wave superfluid Fermi gas following a sudden change of the interaction strength. The anisotropy of pair interaction together with the presence of the centrifugal barrier results in profoundly different pairing dynamics compared to the s-wave case. Depending on the direction of quenches, quench to the BCS regime results in a large oscillatory depletion of momentum occupation inside the Fermi sea or a large filling of momentum occupation. We elucidate a crucial role of the resonant state supported by the centrifugal barrier in t…
We study in detail the dependence of the 1S0 superfluid pairing gap on nuclear interactions and on charge-independence breaking at the BCS level. Starting from chiral effective-field theory and conventional nucleon-nucleon (NN) interactions, we use the renormalization group to generate low-momentum interactions V_{low k} with sharp and smooth regulators. The resulting BCS gaps are well constrained by the NN scattering phase shifts, and the cutoff dependence is very weak for sharp or sufficiently narrow smooth regulators with cutoffs Lambda > 1.6 fm^{-1}. It is therefore likely that the effect …
After reminding of properties of the condensate of the complex scalar field in the external uniform magnetic field $H$ focus is made on the study of phases of the complex neutral vector boson fields coupled with magnetic field by the Zeeman coupling and phases of the charged vector boson fields. These systems may behave as nonmagnetic and ferromagnetic superfluids and ordinary and ferromagnetic superconductors. Response of the ferromagnetic superfluid and superconducting systems occupying half of space on the external uniform static magnetic field $H$ is thoroughly studied. Then the spin-tripl…
We analyse the temperature dependence of pairing correlations in the inner crust matter of neutron stars. The study is done in a finite-temperature HFB approach and by using a zero range pairing force adjusted to the pairing properties of infinite neutron matter. Within the same approach we investigate how the specific heat of the inner crust depends on temperature, matter inhomogeneity, and the assumption used for the pairing force. It is shown that in a physical relevant range of densities the pairing properties of inner crust matter depend significantly on temperature. The finite-temperatur…
Pairing rotations are the low-energy excitations of finite superfluid systems, connecting systems that differ in their number of Cooper pairs. This paper presents a model-independent derivation of pairing rotations within an effective theory that exploits the emergent breaking of U(1) phase symmetries. The symmetries are realized nonlinearly and the Nambu-Goldstone modes depend only on time because the system is finite. Semi-magic nuclei exhibit pairing rotational bands while the pairing spectrum becomes an elliptical paraboloid for open-shell nuclei. Model-independent relations between double…
