We investigate the role of the pion in Covariant Density Functional Theory. Starting from conventional Relativistic Mean Field (RMF) theory with a non-linear coupling of the $σ$-meson and without exchange terms we add pions with a pseudo-vector coupling to the nucleons in relativistic Hartree-Fock approximation. In order to take into account the change of the pion field in the nuclear medium the effective coupling constant of the pion is treated as a free parameter. It is found that the inclusion of the pion to this sort of density functionals does not destroy the overall description of the bulk properties by RMF. On the other hand, the non-central contribution of the pion (tensor coupling) does have effects on single particle energies and on binding energies of certain nuclei.
Puzzling discrepancies between recent pion interferometry data on Au+Au reactions at s^1/2 = 130 and 200 AGeV from RHIC and predictions based on ideal hydrodynamics are analyzed in terms of covariant parton transport theory. The discrepancies of out and longitudinal radii are significantly reduced when the finite opacity of the gluon plasma is taken into account.
A covariant model of elastic pion-nucleon scattering based on the Bethe-Salpeter equation is presented. The kernel consists of s- and u-channel nucleon and delta poles, along with rho and sigma exchange in the t-channel. A good fit is obtained to the s- and p-wave phase shifts up to the two-pion production threshold.
We evaluate the pion and isobar propagators in cold nuclear matter self consistently applying a covariant form of the isobar-hole model. Migdal's vertex correction effects are considered systematically in the absence of phenomenological soft form factors. Saturated nuclear matter is modeled by scalar and vector mean fields for the nucleon. It is shown that the short-range dressing of the pi N Delta vertex has a significant effect on the pion and isobar properties. Using realistic parameters sets we predict a downward shift of about 50 MeV for the Delta resonance at nuclear saturation density. …
In this work improvements to the application of the Gross equation to nuclear systems are tested. In particular we evaluate the two pion exchange diagrams, including the crossed-box diagram, using models developed within the spectator-on-mass-shell covariant formalism. We found that the form factors used in these models induce spurious contributions that violate the unitary cut requirement. We tested then some alternative form-factors in order to preserve the unitarity condition. With this new choice, the difference between the exact and the spectator-on-mass-shell amplitudes is of the order o…
We evaluate the in-medium spectral functions for pions, nucleon and isobar resonances in a self consistent and covariant manner. The calculations are based on a recently developed formulation which leads to predictions in terms of the pion-nucleon scattering phase shifts and a set of Migdal parameters describing important short range correlation effects. We do not observe significant softening of pion modes if we insist on reasonable isobar resonance properties but predict a considerable broadening of the N(1440) and N(1520) resonances in nuclear matter. Contrasted results are obtained for the…
Motivated by the renewed interest in studying the pion production on nuclei with protons at few GeV incident energies, we investigate the pion production in proton-proton collisions over an energy range of 300 $MeV$ to 2 $GeV$. Starting from a realistic one-boson exchange model with parameters fitted to the amplitudes of the elastic nucleon-nucleon scattering, we perform fully covariant calculations for the total, double and triple differential cross-sections of the $p(p,nπ^+)p$ and $p(p,pπ^0)p$ reactions. The calculations incorporate the exchange of $π, ρ,ω$ and $σ$ mesons and treat nucleon a…
We investigate effects of nuclear medium on antiquark distribution in nuclei applying the results of a recently developed relativistically-covariant self-consistent model for the pion and the isobar. We take into account Fermi motion including Pauli blocking and binding effects on the nucleons and medium effects on the isobar and pion leading to modest enhancement of the pion light-cone-momentum distribution in large nuclei. As a consequence the Drell-Yan cross-section ratio with respect to the deuteron exceeds one only for small values of the light-cone momentum.
The Covariant Spectator Theory is applied to the description of quarks and the pion. The dressed quark mass function is calculated dynamically in Minkowski space and used in the calculation of the pion electromagnetic form factor. The effects of the mass function on the pion form factor and the different quark-pole contributions to the triangle diagram are analyzed.
We develop a relativistic covariant and unitary description of the pion-nucleon interaction in a hadron-exchange model. The model is based on the solution of a dimensionally reduced (quasipotential) Bethe-Salpeter equation for the partial-wave off-shell $πN$ scattering amplitudes with the potential consisting of the field-theoretical $s$- and $u$-channel nucleon, Roper, Delta, $D_{13}$, $S_{11}$ exchanges, and the $t$-channel $ρ$ and $σ$ meson exchanges. The contributions of the spin-3/2 Delta and $D_{13}$ resonances are treated within the Rarita-Schwinger formalism and different forms of the …
We introduce a covariant approach in Minkowski space for the description of quarks and mesons that exhibits both chiral-symmetry breaking and confinement. In a simple model for the interquark interaction the quark mass function is obtained and used in the calculation of the pion form factor. We study the effects of the mass function and of the different quark pole contributions on the pion form factor.
The structure of the pion wave function in the relativistic constituent quark model is investigated in the explicitly covariant formulation of light-front dynamics. We calculate the two relativistic components of the pion wave function in a simple one-gluon exchange model and investigate various physical observables: decay constant, charge radius, electromagnetic and transition form factors. We discuss the influence of the full relativistic structure of the pion wave function for an overall good description of all these observables, including both low and high momentum scales.
A systematic approach for the model building of Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs), based on their overlap representation within the DGLAP kinematic region and a further covariant extension to the ERBL one, is applied to the valence-quark pion's case, using light-front wave functions inspired by the Nakanishi representation of the pion's Bethe-Salpeter amplitudes (BSA). This simple but fruitful pion's GPD model illustrates the general model building technique and, in addition, allows for the ambiguities related to the covariant extension, grounded on the Double Distribution (DD) represent…
The pion electromagnetic form factor at spacelike momentum transfer is calculated in relativistic impulse approximation using the Covariant Spectator Theory. The same dressed quark mass function and the equation for the pion bound-state vertex function as discussed in the companion paper are used for the calculation, together with a dressed quark current that satisfies the Ward-Takahashi identity. The results obtained for the pion form factor are in agreement with experimental data, they exhibit the typical monopole behavior at high-momentum transfer, and they satisfy some remarkable scaling r…
We present a calculation of radiative pion photoproduction in the framework of covariant chiral perturbation theory with explicit $Δ(1232)$ degrees of freedom. The analysis is performed employing the small scale expansion scheme adjusted for the $Δ$ region. Depending on the channel, we include contributions up to next-to-next-to-leading order. We fit the available experimental data for the reaction $ γp\toγpπ^0 $ and extract the value of the $Δ^+$ magnetic moment. Errors from the truncation of the small scale expansion are estimated using the Bayesian approach. We compare our results both with…
The pion form factor is calculated in the framework of the charge-conjugation invariant Covariant Spectator Theory. This formalism is established in Minkowski space and the calculation is set up in momentum space. In a previous calculation we included only the leading pole coming from the spectator quark (referred to as the relativistic impulse approximation). In this paper we also include the contributions from the poles of the quark which interacts with the photon and average over all poles in both the upper and lower half planes in order to preserve charge conjugation invariance (referred t…
We highlight some of the recent advances in the application of chiral effective field theory (chiral EFT) with baryons to the $πN$ scattering process. We recall some problems that cast doubt on the applicability of chiral EFT to $πN$ and show how the relativistic formalism, once the $Δ(1232)$-resonance is included as an explicit degree of freedom, solves these issues. Finally it is shown how this approach can be used to extract the $σ$-terms from phenomenological information.
This paper is the first in a series of three which attempt to resolve the difficulties that have plagued the $NN-πNN$ problem for the past ten years. Various theoretical inconsistencies in the current formulation have been pointed out and this work aims to eliminate these inconsistencies and so, we hope, produce agreement with experiment. This is to be done by using covariant perturbation theory, in which these inconsistencies are not present. The covariant perturbation theory is developed starting from a model Lagrangian, in order to fix notation and phases. It is shown that both old-fashione…
Employing the covariant baryon chiral perturbation theory, we calculate the leading and next-to-leading order two-pion exchange (TPE) contributions to $NN$ interaction up to order $O(p^3)$. We compare the so-obtained $NN$ phase shifts with $2\leq L\leq 6$ and mixing angles with $2\leq J\leq6$ with those obtained in the nonrelativistic baryon chiral perturbation theory, which allows us to check the relativistic corrections to the medium-range part of $NN$ interactions. We show that the contributions of relativistic TPE are more moderate than those of the nonrelativistic TPE. The relativistic co…
The current status of the application of covariant density functional theory to the description of fission barriers in actinides and superheavy nuclei is reviewed. The achievements and open problems are discussed.
We report on recent results of a calculation of the nucleon and delta masses in a covariant bound-state approach, where to the simple rainbow-ladder gluon-exchange interaction kernel we add a pion-exchange contribution to account for pion cloud effects. We observe good agreement with lattice data at large pion masses. At the physical point our masses are too large by about five percent, signaling the need for more structure in the gluon part of the interaction.
Modern applications of Covariant Density Functional Theory (CDFT) are discussed. First we show a systematic investigation of fission barriers in actinide nuclei within constraint relativistic mean field theory allowing for triaxial deformations. In the second part we discuss a microscopic theory of quantum phase transitions (QPT) based on the relativistic generator coordinate method.
We present a relativistic dynamical model of pion photoproduction on the nucleon in the resonance region. It offers several advances over the existing approaches. The model is obtained by extending our $πN$-scattering description to the electromagnetic channels. The resulting photopion amplitude is thus unitary in the $πN$, $\ga N$ channel space, Watson's theorem is exactly satisfied. At this stage we have included the pion, nucleon, $\De(1232)$-resonance degrees of freedom. The $ρ$ and $ω$ meson exchanges are also included, but play a minor role in the considered energy domain (up to $\sqrt{s…
This thesis contains two parts. The first part deals with pion-nucleon/meson-baryon scattering in the Kadyshevsky formalism. This formalism is introduced and discussed. Problems may arise when derivative couplings and/or higher spin fields are used, especially when compared to the results in the Feynman formalism: unwanted contact terms pop-up. These terms are cancelled using the Gross and Jackiw or Takahashi and Umezawa method. The final results in both formalisms are therefore equal, causal and covariant. Formal incorporation of pair suppression in the baryon exchange sector is achieved usin…
Weak pion production off the nucleon at low energies has been systematically investigated in manifestly relativistic baryon chiral perturbation theory with explicit inclusion of the $Δ$(1232) resonance. Most of the involved low-energy constants have been previously determined in other processes such as pion-nucleon elastic scattering and electromagnetic pion production off the nucleon. For numerical estimates, the few remaining constants are set to be of natural size. As a result, the total cross sections for single pion production on neutrons and protons, induced either by neutrino or antineu…
The Markov-Yukawa Transversality Principle (MYTP) on a 2-body Bethe-Salpeter kernel is formulated on a covariant Null Plane (NP) to reconstruct the 4D BS wave function for 2 fermion quarks in terms of 3D entities that satisfy a 3D BSE. This result is the null-plane counterpart of a 3D-4D interconnection for the 2-body BS wave functions found earlier by imposing MYTP covariantly in the instantaneous rest frame (termed CIA) of the composite. This formulation yields a 3D BSE which is formally identical to its Covariant Instantaneity form, thus fully preserving its spectral results, while ensuring…
The assessment of the global performance of the state-of-the-art covariant energy density functionals and related theoretical uncertainties in the description of ground state observables has recently been performed. Based on these results, the correlations between global description of binding energies and nuclear matter properties of covariant energy density functionals have been studied in this contribution.
We consider pionic hydrogen A_(pi p), the bound pi^- p state. Within the quantum field theoretic and relativistic covariant approach we calculate the shift and width of the energy level of the ground state of pionic hydrogen caused by strong low-energy interactions treated perturbatively. The generalization of the Deser-Goldberger-Baumann-Thirring (DGBT) formulas (Phys. Rev. 96, 774 (1954)) is given. The generalized DGBT formulas for the energy level displacement of the ground state of pionic hydrogen contain the non-perturbative and model-independent correction about 1%, caused by the relativ…
The recent progress in the localized covariant density functional constrained by the relativistic Hartree-Fock theory is briefly presented by taking the Gamow-Teller resonance in 90Zr as an example. It is shown that the constraints introduced by the Fock terms into the particle-hole residual interactions are straight forward and robust.
The nuclear magnetic moment is an important physical observable and serves as a useful tool for the stringent test of nuclear models. For the past decades, the covariant density functional theory and its extension have been proved to be successful in describing the nuclear ground-states and excited states properties. However, a long-standing problem is its failure to predict magnetic moments. This article reviews the recent progress in the description of the nuclear magnetic moments within the covariant density functional theory. In particular, the magnetic moments of spherical odd-A nuclei wi…
The pion-nucleon sigma term ($σ_{πN}$) is an observable of fundamental importance because embodies information about the internal scalar structure of the nucleon. Nowadays this quantity has triggered renewed interest because it is a key input for a reliable estimation of the dark matter-nucleon spin independent elastic scattering cross section. In this proceeding we present how this quantity can be reliably extracted by employing only experimental information with the use covariant baryon chiral perturbation theory. We also contrast our extraction with updated phenomenology related to $σ_{πN}$…
Relativistic mean field theory allowing for triaxial deformations is applied for a systematic study of fission barriers in the actinide region. Different pairing schemes are studied in details and it is shown that covariant density functional theory is able to describe fission barriers on a level of accuracy comparable with non-relativistic calculations, even with the best phenomenological macroscopic+microscopic approaches. Triaxiality in the region of the first saddle plays a crucial role in achieving that.
The observed shears bands in 198Pb and 199Pb are investigated within the framework of tilted axis cranking covariant density functional theory, and the separable pairing force is adopted to consider the pairing correlations. The energy spectra, total angular momenta, and transition probabilities agree well with the experimental data. The bandhead energy differences are reproduced satisfactorily without any ad hoc renormalizations when the pairing correlations are taken into account. The angular momentum vectors are discussed in detail to analyze the pairing effects on magnetic rotations.
The shell-model-like approach (SLAP) based on cranking covariant density functional theory (CDFT) with a separable pairing force is developed. The developed cranking CDFT-SLAP with separable pairing force is applied to investigate the rotational spectra in $^{60}$Fe, including the positive-parity yrast band and two negative-parity signature partner bands, in comparison with the cranking CDFT-SLAP with monopole pairing force calculations. Excellent agreement with the available data is achieved.
We construct a covariant model for short range correlations of a pion emerged in nuclear matter. Once the delta-hole contribution is considered an additional and so far neglected channel opens that leads to significant modifications in the vicinity of the kinematical region defined by ω\sim |\vec q |. We speculate that this novel effect should be important for the quantitative interpretation of charge exchange reactions like C(He,t).
Systematic investigation of the accuracy of the description of the energies of deformed one-quasiparticle states has been performed in covariant density functional theory in actinide and rare-earth mass regions. The sources of the discrepancies between theory and experiment are analyzed. Although some improvements in the description of ground state configurations and one-quasiparticle spectra can be achieved by better parametrization of the relativistic mean field Lagrangian, the analysis suggests that spectroscopic quality of their description can be achieved only in theoretical framework whi…
The current status of the application of covariant density functional theory to microscopic description of nuclear fission with main emphasis on superheavy nuclei (SHN) is reviewed. The softness of SHN in the triaxial plane leads to an emergence of several competing fission pathes in the region of the inner fission barrier in some of these nuclei. The outer fission barriers of SHN are considerably affected both by triaxiality and octupole deformation.
Systematic calculations of fission barriers allowing for triaxial deformation are performed for even-even superheavy nuclei with charge number $Z=112-120$ using three classes of covariant density functional models. The softness of nuclei in the triaxial plane leads to an emergence of several competing fission pathes in the region of the inner fission barrier in some of these nuclei. The outer fission barriers are considerably affected by triaxiality and octupole deformation. General trends of the evolution of the inner and the outer fission barrier heights are discussed as a function of the pa…
The spectroscopic quality of covariant density functional theory has been accessed by analyzing the accuracy and theoretical uncertainties in the description of spectroscopic observables. Such analysis is first presented for the energies of the single-particle states in spherical and deformed nuclei. It is also shown that the inclusion of particle-vibration coupling improves the description of the energies of predominantly single-particle states in medium and heavy-mass spherical nuclei. However, the remaining differences between theory and experiment clearly indicate missing physics and missi…
Self-consistent relativistic random-phase approximation (RPA) in the radial coordinate representation is established by using the finite amplitude method (FAM). Taking the isoscalar giant monopole resonance in spherical nuclei as example, the feasibility of the FAM for the covariant density functionals is demonstrated, and the newly developed methods are verified by the conventional RPA calculations. In the present relativistic RPA calculations, the effects of the Dirac sea can be automatically taken into account in the coordinate-space representation. The rearrangement terms due to the densit…
A systematic investigation of even-even superheavy elements in the region of proton numbers $100 \leq Z \leq 130$ and in the region of neutron numbers from the proton-drip line up to neutron number $N=196$ is presented. For this study we use five most up-to-date covariant energy density functionals of different types, with a non-linear meson coupling, with density dependent meson couplings, and with density-dependent zero-range interactions. Pairing correlations are treated within relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (RHB) theory based on an effective separable particle-particle interaction of fini…
We calculate properties of the ground and excited states of nuclei in the nobelium region for proton and neutron numbers of 92 <= Z <= 104 and 144 <= N <= 156, respectively. We use three different energy-density-functional (EDF) approaches, based on covariant, Skyrme, and Gogny functionals, each within two different parameter sets. A comparative analysis of the results obtained for odd-even mass staggerings, quasiparticle spectra, and moments of inertia allows us to identify single-particle and shell effects that are characteristic to these different models and to illustrate possible systemati…
We present the results of a third order calculation of the pion-nucleon scattering amplitude in a chiral effective field theory with pions, nucleons and delta resonances as explicit degrees of freedom. We work in a manifestly Lorentz invariant formulation of baryon chiral perturbation theory using dimensional regularization and the extended on-mass-shell renormalization scheme. In the delta resonance sector, the on mass-shell renormalization is realized as a complex-mass scheme. By fitting the low-energy constants of the effective Lagrangian to the $S$- and $P$-partial waves a satisfactory des…
The origin of the nuclear tensor interaction in the covariant energy density functional (EDF) is presented in this work, associated with the Fock diagrams of Lorentz scalar and vector couplings. With this newly obtained relativistic formalism of the nuclear tensor interaction, more distinct tensor effects are found in the Fock diagrams of the Lorentz scalar and vector couplings, as compared to the Lorentz pseudo-vector and tensor channels. A unified and self-consistent treatment on both the nuclear tensor and spin-orbit interactions, which dominate the spin-dependent features of the nuclear fo…
The isospin coupling-channel decomposition of the potential energy density functional is carried out within the covariant density functional theory, and their isospin and density dependence in particular the influence on the symmetry energy is studied. It is found that both isospin-singlet and isospin-triplet components of the potential energy play the dominant role in deciding the symmetry energy, especially when the Fock diagram is introduced. The results illustrate a quite different mechanism to the origin of the symmetry energy from the microscopic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory, and demons…
Five-dimensional collective Hamiltonian based on the covariant density functional theory has been applied to study the the low-lying states of even-even $^{148-162}$Gd isotopes. The shape evolution from $^{148}$Gd to $^{162}$Gd is presented. The experimental energy spectra and intraband $B(E2)$ transition probabilities for the $^{148-162}$Gd isotopes are reproduced by the present calculations. The relative $B(E2)$ ratios in present calculations are also compared with the available interacting boson model results and experimental data. It is found that the occupations of neutron $1i_{13/2}$ orb…
In contrast to the non-relativistic approaches, three-dimensional (3D) mesh calculations for the {\it relativistic} density functional theory have not been realized because of the challenges of variational collapse and fermion doubling. We overcome these difficulties by developing a novel method based on the ideas of Wilson fermion as well as the variational principle for the inverse Hamiltonian. We demonstrate the applicability of this method by applying it to $^{16}$O, $^{24}$Mg, and $^{28}$Si nuclei, providing detailed explanation on the formalism and verification of numerical implementatio…
A consistent combination of covariant density functional theory (CDFT) and Landau-Migdal Theory of Finite Fermi Systems (TFFS) is presented. Both methods are in principle exact, but Landau-Migdal theory cannot describe ground state properties and density functional theory does not take into account the energy dependence of the self-energy and therefore fails to yield proper single-% particle spectra as well as the coupling to complex configurations in the width of giant resonances. Starting from an energy functional, phonons and their vertices are calculated without any further parameters. The…
The nuclear landscape has been investigated within the triaxial relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory with the PC-PK1 density functional, and the beyond-mean-field dynamical correlation energies are taken into account by a microscopically mapped five-dimensional collective Hamiltonian without additional free parameters. The effects of triaxial deformation and dynamical correlations on the nuclear landscape are analyzed. The present results provide the best description of the experimental binding energies, in particular for medium and heavy mass regions, in comparison with the results obtained…
The Woods-Saxon basis has achieved great success in both nonrelativistic and covariant density functional theories in recent years. Due to its nonanalytical nature, however, applications of the Woods-Saxon basis are numerically complicated and computationally time consuming. In this paper, based on the deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum (DRHBc), we check in detail the convergence with respect to the basis space in the Dirac sea. An optimized Dirac Woods-Saxon basis is proposed, whose corresponding potential is close to the nuclear mean field. It is shown that the basi…
The analysis of statistical and systematic uncertainties and their propogation to nuclear extremes has been performed. Two extremes of nuclear landscape (neutron-rich nuclei and superheavy nuclei) have been investigated. For the first extreme, we focus on the ground state properties. For the second extreme, we pay a particular attention to theoretical uncertainties in the description of fission barriers of superheavy nuclei and their evolution on going to neutron-rich nuclei.
We study the reaction of pion photoproduction on the nucleon in the framework of chiral perturbation theory with explicit $Δ(1232)$ degrees of freedom. In the covariant approach, we give results up to order $ε^3$ in the small scale expansion scheme. Furthermore, we provide $Δ$-less and $Δ$-full results obtained in the heavy-baryon scheme to analyze the differences to the covariant approach. Low energy constants are fitted to multipole amplitudes using theoretical truncation errors estimated by a Bayesian approach. We also compare our findings to data of neutral pion production cross sections a…
Covariant density functional theory (CDFT) is a modern theoretical tool for the description of nuclear structure phenomena. The current investigation aims at the global assessment of the accuracy of the description of the ground state properties of even-even nuclei. We also estimate {\it theoretical uncertainties} defined here as the spreads of predictions within four covariant energy density functionals (CEDF) in known regions of the nuclear chart and their propagation towards the neutron drip line. Large-scale axial relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (RHB) calculations are performed for all $Z\…
A short review of existing efforts to understand charge radii and related indicators on a global scale within the covariant density functional theory (CDFT) is presented. Using major classes of covariant energy density functionals (CEDFs), the global accuracy of the description of experimental absolute and differential charge radii within the CDFT framework has been established. This assessment is supplemented by an evaluation of theoretical statistical and systematic uncertainties in the description of charge radii. New results on the accuracy of the description of differential charge radii i…
Half-life of proton radioactivity of spherical proton emitters is studied within the scheme of covariant density functional (CDF) theory, and for the first time the potential barrier that prevents the emitted proton is extracted with the similarity renormalization group (SRG) method, in which the spin-orbit potential along with the others that turn out to be non-negligible can be derived automatically. The spectroscopic factor that is significant is also extracted from the CDF calculations. The estimated half-lives are found in good agreement with the experimental values, which not only confir…
Background: The study of additional terms in functionals is relevant to better describe nuclear structure phenomenology. Among these terms, the tensor one is known to impact nuclear structure properties, especially in neutron-rich nuclei. However, its effect has not been studied on the whole nuclear chart yet. Purpose: The impact of terms corresponding to the tensor at the Hartree level, is studied for infinite nuclear matter as well as deformed nuclei, by developing new density-dependent functionals including these terms. In particular, we study in details the improvement such a term can brin…
Excitations of chiral rotation observed in triaxial nuclei and magnetic and/or antimagnetic rotations seen in near-spherical nuclei have attracted a lot of attention. Unlike conventional rotation in well-deformed or superdeformed nuclei, here the rotational axis is not necessary coinciding with any principal axis of the nuclear density distribution. Thus, tilted axis cranking is mandatory to describe these excitations self-consistently in the framework of covariant density functional theory (CDFT). We will briefly introduce the formalism of tilted axis cranking CDFT and its application for mag…
