We propose a phenomenological approach to examine the role of short- and long-range nucleon-nucleon correlations in the quenching of single-particle strength in atomic nuclei and their evolution in asymmetric nuclei and neutron matter. These correlations are thought to be the reason for the quenching of spectroscopic factors observed in $\rm (e,e'p)$, $\rm (p,2p)$ and transfer reactions. We show that the recently observed increase of the high-momentum component of the protons in neutron-rich nuclei is consistent with the reduced proton spectroscopic factors. Our approach connects recent results on short-range correlations from high-energy electron scattering experiments with the quenching of spectroscopic factors and addresses for the first time quantitatively this intriguing question in nuclear physics, in particular regarding its isospin dependence. We also speculate about the nature of a {\sl quasi-proton} (nuclear polaron) in neutron matter and its kinetic energy, an important quantity for the properties of neutron stars.
I summarize recent results and discuss upcoming and planned experiments that attempt to elucidate how the structure of nucleons might be modified by nuclear binding.
Neutron-rich nuclei become increasingly sensitive to three-nucleon forces. These components of nuclear forces are at the forefront of theoretical developments based on effective field theories of quantum chromodynamics. We discuss our understanding of three-nucleon forces and their impact on exotic nuclei, and show how new measurements test and constrain them. Three-nucleon forces therefore provide an exciting link between theoretical and experimental nuclear physics frontiers.
The present contribution reviews recent advances made toward a microscopic understanding of superfluidity in nuclei using many-body methods based on the BCS ansatz and low-momentum inter-nucleon interactions, themselves based on chiral effective field theory and renormalization group techniques.
Recent studies at Jefferson Lab show that there are a certain proportion of nucleons in nuclei have momenta greater than the so-called nuclear Fermi momentum $p_{F}$. Based on the transport model of nucleus-nucleus collisions at intermediate energies, nucleon high momentum caused by the neutron-proton short-range correlations in nuclei is constrained by comparing with $π$ and photon experimental data and considering some uncertainties. The high momentum cutoff value $p_{max}$ $\leq$ 2$p_{F}$ is obtained.
The study of spherical-deformed ground--state phase transitions in finite nuclei as a function of N and Z is hindered by the discrete values of the nucleon number. A resolution of the integer nucleon number problem, and evidence relating to phase transitions in finite nuclei, are discussed from the experimental point of view and interpreted within the framework of the interacting boson model.
While the main features of atomic nuclei are well described by nuclear mean-field models, there is a large and growing body of evidence which indicates an important additional role played by spatially-correlated nucleon-nucleon structures. The role of nucleonic structures was first suggested by Heidmann in 1950 to explain pick-up reactions of energetic nucleons. Since then a steady flux of new experimental evidence has confirmed the presence of similar structures inside atomic nuclei, dominated by correlations between pairs of nucleons. The role of these internal nucleon-nucleon correlations h…
The number of nucleon (NN) scaling of the directed flow $v_1$ and elliptic flow ($v_{2}$) as well as the nuclear modification factor ($R_{cp}$) are tested for light nuclei which are produced in 0.4$A$ GeV $^{197}Au + ^{197}Au$ collisions at different impact parameters with two different in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross sections in the framework of an isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics (IQMD) model. In that energy domain, the emission of light nuclei can be well described by the squeeze-out phenonomenon. The results show a nice NN scaling behavior for flow parameters $v_{1}$, $v_{2}$ a…
In the past decades, it has been shown that the three-body force is necessary for a fully microscopic understanding of nuclear many-body systems, and thus efficient schemes for storing and utilizing three-body matrix elements have been developed. However, three-body matrix elements still demand a lot of memory and/or storage and it readily exceeds the limitation of the state-of-the-art supercomputers. We explore the possibility of mimicking the effects of three-body forces in medium-mass region, especially lower $pf$ shell, by density-dependent effective nucleon-nucleon interactions combining …
For more than half a century, nucleons are considered to move continuously in the nuclei. Recent electron-scattering experiments indicate about 20$\sim$25\% nucleons in heavier nuclei are involved in the neutron-proton short-range correlations. Nucleons in the nuclei thus have abnormal behavior unlike those in the non-interaction fermi gas. In the neutron-rich nuclei, around the Fermi momentum, the neutron-proton short-range correlations lead to a momentum gap in the proton momentum distribution, which is circumstantially supported by the pionic experimental data. Likewise, there should also b…
Nucleon-nucleon momentum correlation function have been presented for nuclear reactions with neutron-rich or proton-rich projectiles using a nuclear transport theory, namely Isospin-Dependent Quantum Molecular Dynamics model. The relationship between the binding energy of projectiles and the strength of proton-neutron correlation function at small relative momentum has been explored, while proton-proton correlation function shows its sensitivity to the proton density distribution. Those results show that nucleon-nucleon correlation function is useful to reflect some features of the neutron- or…
The Gamow-Teller strength in nuclei can be strongly affected by the internal degrees of freedom of the nucleon. It is demonstrated that this feature is unique to the Gamow-Teller. Excitation modes that involve spatial degrees of freedom are much less influenced by the internal excitation of nucleons. The fact that the observed Gamow-Teller strength is quenched by 30-40 percent in all nuclei suggests that indeed this is due to the nucleon excitation in nuclei.
We present a theoretical study of the Maris polarization effect and its application in quasi-free reactions to assess information on the structure of exotic nuclei. We discuss the uncertainties in the calculations of triple differential cross sections and of analyzing powers due the choices of various nucleon-nucleon interactions the optical potentials and limitations of the method. Our calculations explore a large number of choices for the nucleon-nucleon (NN) interactions and the optical potential for nucleon-nucleus scattering. Our study implies that polarization variables in (p,2p) reactio…
It is shown that the use of a density dependent effective Pauli potential together with a nucleon-nucleon interaction potential plays a crucial role to reproduce not only the binding energies but also the matter root mean square radii of medium mass range spin-isospin saturated nuclei. This study is performed with a semiclassical Monte Carlo many-body simulation within the context of a simplified nucleon-nucleon interaction to focus on the effect of the genuine correlations due to the fermionic nature of nucleons. The procedure obtained is rather robust and it does not depend on the detailed f…
The short-range correlation (SRC) induced by the tensor force in the isosinglet neutron-proton interaction channel leads to a high-momentum tail (HMT) in the single-nucleon momentum distributions n(k) in nuclei. Owing to the remaining uncertainties about the tensor force, the shape of the nucleon HMT may be significantly different from the dilute interacting Fermi gas model prediction $n(k) \sim1/k^4$ similar to the HMT in cold atoms near the unitary limit. Within an isospin- and momentum-dependent Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck transport model incorporating approximately the nucleon HMT, we inve…
Based on the recent experimental observations of the dominance of tensor interaction in the ~250-600~MeV/c momentum range of nucleons in nuclei, the existence of two new properties for high-momentum distribution of nucleons in asymmetric nuclei is suggested. The first property is the approximate scaling relation between proton and neutron high-momentum distributions weighted by their relative fractions in the nucleus. The second property is the inverse proportionality of the strength of the high-momentum distribution of protons and neutrons to the same relative fractions. Based on these two pr…
We summarise recent progress in theory and experiment towards understanding etaprime meson interactions with nucleons and nuclei. Highlights include the production mechanism of etaprime mesons in proton-proton collisions close to threshold, the etaprime effective mass shift in nuclei and the determination of the etaprime-nucleon scattering length in free space.
Local chiral effective field theory interactions have recently been developed and used in the context of quantum Monte Carlo few- and many-body methods for nuclear physics. In this work, we go over detailed features of local chiral nucleon-nucleon interactions and examine their effect on properties of the deuteron, paying special attention to the perturbativeness of the expansion. We then turn to three-nucleon interactions, focusing on operator ambiguities and their interplay with regulator effects. We then discuss the nuclear Green's function Monte Carlo method, going over both wave-function …
One of the primary goals of nuclear physics is providing a complete description of the structure of atomic nuclei. While mean-field calculations provide detailed information on the nuclear shell structure for a wide range of nuclei, they do not capture the complete structure of nuclei, in particular the impact of small, dense structures in nuclei. The strong, short-range component of the nucleon-nucleon potential yields hard interactions between nucleons which are close together, generating a high-momentum tail to the nucleon momentum distribution, with momenta well in excess of the Fermi mome…
With the development of radioactive beam facilities, studies concerning the shell evolution of unstable nuclei have recently gained prominence. Intruder components, particularly s-wave intrusion, in the low-lying states of light neutron-rich nuclei near N=8 are of importance in the study of shell evolution. The use of single-nucleon transfer reactions in inverse kinematics has been a sensitive tool that can be used to quantitatively investigate the single-particle orbital component of selectively populated states. The spin-parity, spectroscopic factor (or single-particle strength), and effecti…
Present and prospective fundamental symmetry tests with nucleons, nuclei and atoms are probing for possible new physics at the TeV scale and beyond. These ongoing and proposed table-top as well as accelerator-based experiments are thus a vital component of the Intensity Frontier. At the same time, these tests provide increasingly sophisticated probes of long-distance strong interactions that are responsible for the structure of nucleons and nuclei. In this community report, some of the most compelling opportunities with nucleons, nuclei and atoms are summarized, drawing largely on input receiv…
Background: Multi-nucleon transfer reactions have recently attracted attention as a possible path to the synthesis of new neutron-rich heavy nuclei. Purpose: We study transfer reactions involving massive nuclei with the intention of understanding if the semi-classical model GRAZING coupled to an evaporation and fission competition model can satisfactory reproduce experimental data on transfer reactions in which fission plays a role. Methods: We have taken the computer code GRAZING and have added fission competition to it (GRAZING-F) using our current understanding of $Γ_n/Γ_f$, fission barrier…
The importance of the effects of nucleon-nucleon (NN) short-range correlations (SRC) and Gribov inelastic shadowing (IS) on various high energy scattering processes involving nuclear targets is demonstrated within an improved Glauber-Gribov approach.
Using an isospin-dependent transport model, we study the effects of nuclear symmetry energy on two-nucleon correlation functions in heavy ion collisions induced by neutron-rich nuclei. We find that the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy affects significantly the nucleon emission times in these collisions, leading to larger values of two-nucleon correlation functions for a symmetry energy that has a stronger density dependence. Two-nucleon correlation functions are thus useful tools for extracting information about the nuclear symmetry energy from heavy ion collisions.
We investigate neutrino-nucleus collisions at intermediate energies incorporating quasielastic scattering and Delta(1232) excitation as elementary processes, together with Fermi motion, Pauli blocking and mean-field potentials in the nuclear medium. A full coupled-channel treatment of final state interactions is achieved with a semiclassical BUU transport model. Results for inclusive reactions and nucleon knockout are presented.
We review the production of high-mass lepton pairs in fixed-target experiments, including both Drell-Yan (DY) and heavy quarkonium (J/Psi and Upsilons) production.
"Measurement of 2- and 3-nucleon short range correlation probabilities in nuclei" claimed to observe plateaus in the inclusive A/3He (e,e') ratios in the xB > 2 region; yet, a subsequent measurement at a higher momentum transfer did not observe xB > 2 plateaus. Herein we comment on a possible experimental explanation for this discrepancy.
We calculate the total and differential quasielastic cross sections for neutrino and antineutrino scattering on nucleons using up to date fits to the nucleon elastic electromagnetic form factors $G_E^p$, $G_E^n$, $G_M^p$, $G_M^n$, and $F_A$ and pseudoscalar form factors. We compare predictions of the cross sections for nucelons and nuclei to experimental data.
The cross sections for a variety of diffractive processes in proton-nucleus scattering, associated with large gaps in rapidity, are calculated within an improved Glauber-Gribov theory, where the inelastic shadowing corrections are summed to all orders by employing the dipole representation. The effects of nucleon correlations, leading to a modification of the nuclear thickness function, are also taken into account. Numerical calculations are performed for the energies of the HERA-B experiment, and the RHIC and LHC colliders, and for several nuclei. It is found that whereas the Gribov correctio…
The properties of strange and charm mesons in nuclear matter and nuclei are reviewed. Different frameworks are presented and discussed paying a special attention to unitarized coupled-channel approaches. Possible experimental signatures of the in-medium properties of these mesons are also addressed, in particular in connection with the future FAIR facility at GSI.
We report on the status of the search for eta-mesic nuclei and the studies of the interaction of the eta meson with nucleons. Recently we have completed the analysis of the new WASA-at-COSY data on the production of the eta meson with polarized proton beam. New results on the analyzing power for the pp->ppeta reaction with more than an order of magnitude improved precision shed a new light on the production mechanism of the eta meson in nucleon-nucleon collisions. Also, the latest results of the search for eta-mesic nuclei are discussed.
Recent experimental data on inclusive and exclusive lepton and hadron scattering off nuclei have renewed the interest in theoretical and experimental studies of Short Range Correlations (SRC), due to the relevant impact they may have not only on the structure of ordinary nuclei but on the structure of hadronic matter at high densities as well. One of the ultimate aim of these studies is the determination of the probability of two- and three-nucleon correlations in nuclei. To this end, we have studied the possibility to extract these probabilities from a novel analysis of inclusive A(e, e')X pr…
High energy heavy-ion collisions produce large amounts of light nuclei and hype nuclei, especially at high baryon density around collision energy of several GeV. These light nuclei and hyper nuclei carry the information of nucleon-nucleon and hyperon-nucleon interactions and affect the chemical composition and properties of the collision system. This proceeding is a brief review for the recent measurements on light nuclei collective flow, including directed flow $v_1$, elliptic flow $v_2$, and high order flow coefficients, at finite and high baryon densities from different experiments. The lig…
The ratios of inclusive electron scattering cross sections of He4, C12 and Fe56 to He3 have been measured at 1 < x_B < 3. At Q^2 > 1.4 GeV^2, the ratios exhibit two separate plateaus, at 1.5 < x_B < 2 and at x_B > 2.25. This pattern is predicted by models that include 2- and 3-nucleon short-range correlations (SRC). Relative to A=3, the per-nucleon probabilities of 3-nucleon SRC are 2.3, 3.2, and 4.6 times larger for A=4, 12 and 56. This is the first measurement of 3-nucleon SRC probabilities in nuclei. \\
Recent developments in understanding the influence of the nucleus on deep-inelastic structure functions, the EMC effect, are reviewed. A new data base which expresses ratios of structure functions in terms of the Bjorken variable $x_A=AQ^2/(2M_A q_0)$ is presented. Information about two-nucleon short-range correlations from experiments is also discussed and the remarkable linear relation between short-range correlations and teh EMC effect is reviewed. A convolution model that relates the underlying source of the EMC effect to modification of either the mean-field nucleons or the short-range co…
The electric dipole moments of the nucleon and light ions are discussed and strategies for disentangling the underlying sources of CP violation beyond the Kobayashi-Maskawa quark-mixing mechanism of the Standard Model are indicated. Contribution to "45 years of nuclear theory at Stony Brook: a tribute to Gerald E. Brown".
We determine nuclear structure functions and quark distributions for $^7$Li, $^{11}$B, $^{15}$N and $^{27}$Al. For the nucleon bound state we solve the covariant quark-diquark equations in a confining Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model, which yields excellent results for the free nucleon structure functions. The nucleus is described using a relativistic shell model, including mean scalar and vector fields that couple to the quarks in the nucleon. The nuclear structure functions are then obtained as a convolution of the structure function of the bound nucleon with the light-cone nucleon distributions. W…
The strongly repulsive core of the short-range nucleon-nucleon interaction leads to the existence of high-momentum nucleons in nuclei. Inclusive electron scattering can be used to probe these high-momentum nucleons and study the nature of the corresponding short-range correlations in nuclei. With recent data from Jefferson Lab we have begun to map out the strength of two-nucleon correlations in nuclei, while upcoming experiments should allow us to isolate the presence of multi-nucleon correlations. In addition to their importance in describing nuclear structure, these configurations of correla…
Experimental data on multi-fragmentation of residual krypton nuclei created in the interactions of the krypton nuclei with photoemulsion nuclei at the energy of 0.9 GeV per nucleon are presented in a comparison with the analogous data on fragmentation of gold residual nuclei at the energy of 10.7 GeV/nucleon. It is shown for the first time that there are two regimes of nuclear multifragmentation: the former is when less than one-half of nucleons of projectile nucleus are knocked out, the latter is when more than one-half of nucleons are knocked out. Residual nuclei with closed masses created a…
Dimuon production has been studied in a series of fixed-target experiments at Fermilab during the last two decades. Highlights from these experiments, together with recent results from the Fermilab E866 experiment, are presented. Future prospects for studying the parton distributions in the nucleons and nuclei using dimuon production are also discussed.
An attempt to extract critical exponents gamma, beta and tau from data on gold nuclei fragmentation due to interactions with nuclear emulsion at energies 4.0 A GeV and 10.6 A GeV is presented. Based on analysis of Campi's 2nd charge moments, two subsets of data at each energy are selected from the inclusive data, corresponding to 'liquid' and 'gas' phases. The extracted values of critical exponents from the selected data sets are in agreement with predictions of 'liquid-gas' model of phase transition.
We present new measurements of electron scattering from high-momentum nucleons in nuclei. These data allow an improved determination of the strength of two-nucleon correlations for several nuclei, including light nuclei where clustering effects can, for the first time, be examined. The data also include the kinematic region where three-nucleon correlations are expected to dominate.
We analyse available experimental data on the total charged-current neutrino-nucleon and antineutrino-nucleon cross sections for quasielastic scattering and single-pion neutrinoproduction. Published results from the relevant experiments at ANL, BNL, FNAL, CERN, and IHEP are included dating from the end of sixties to the present day, covering muon neutrino and antineutrino beams on a variety of nuclear targets, with energies from the thresholds to about 350 GeV. The data are used to adjust the poorly known values of the axial masses.
