Temperature effects on the neutron matter equation of state are investigated in the framework of chiral effective field theory. Latest, state-of-the-art chiral two-nucleon forces are applied from third to fifth order in the chiral expansion together with chiral three-nucleon forces, allowing for a determination of the truncation error of the theoretical predictions. The thermodynamic quantities considered include the chemical potential, the internal energy, the entropy, and the free energy. In general, good order-by-order convergence of all predictions is observed. As to be expected, temperature effects are largest at low density. The temperature dependence of the chiral three-nucleon force turns out to be weak.
We discuss neutron matter calculations based on chiral effective field theory interactions and their predictions for the symmetry energy, the neutron skin of 208 Pb, and for the radius of neutron stars.
We review efforts to describe the approach to chiral symmetry restoration in neutron matter from the low-energy realization of QCD, chiral effective field theory.
We present predictions of the binding energy per nucleon and the neutron skin thickness in highly neutron-rich isotopes of Oxygen, Magnesium, and Aluminum. The calculations are carried out at and below the neutron drip line as predicted by our model. The nuclear properties are obtained via an energy functional whose input is the equation of state of isospin-asymmetric infinite matter. The latter is based on a microscopic derivation of the energy per particle in neutron matter applying chiral few-nucleon forces together with a phenomenological model for the equation of state of symmetric nuclea…
We calculate neutron star masses and radii from equations of state based on recent high-quality chiral nucleon-nucleon potentials up to fifth order of the chiral expansion and the leading chiral three- nucleon force. Our focus is on the radius of a 1.4 M_{Sun} neutron star, for which we report predictions that are consistent with the most recent constraints. We also show the full M(R) relations up to their respective maximum masses. Beyond the densities for which microscopic predictions are derived from chiral forces, the equations of state are obtained via polytropic continuations. However, t…
We present predictions for the neutron matter equation of state, from leading to fourth order of chiral effective field theory, using recently developed, accurate chiral nucleon-nucleon potentials. We find the impact of subleading three-neutron forces to be mild and attractive. We also show order-by-order predictions for the symmetry energy, and discuss its density dependence in relation to empirical constraints.
A recent chiral perturbation theory calculation of the in-medium quark condensate $<\bar q q>$ is extended to the isospin-asymmetric case of pure neutron matter. In contrast to the behavior in isospin-symmetric nuclear matter we find only small deviations from the linear density approximation. This feature originates primarily from the reduced weight factors (e.g. 1/6 for the dominant contributions) of the $2π$-exchange mechanisms in pure neutron matter. Our result suggests therefore that the tendencies for chiral symmetry restoration are actually favored in systems with large neutron excess (…
We study the properties of rotating neutron stars within a generalized chiral SU(3)-flavor model. The influence of the rotation on the inner structure and the hyperon matter content of the star is discussed. We calculate the Kepler frequency and moments of inertia of the neutron star sequences. An estimate for the braking index of the associated pulsars is given.
We calculate the energy per particle in infinite neutron matter perturbatively using chiral N3LO two-body potentials plus N2LO three-body forces. The cutoff dependence of the predictions is investigated by employing chiral interactions with different regulators. We find that the inclusion of three-nucleon forces, which are consistent with the applied two-nucleon interaction, leads to a strongly reduced regulator dependence of the results.
We report neutron star predictions based on our most recent equations of state. These are derived from chiral effective field theory, which allows for a systematic development of nuclear forces, order by order. We utilize high-quality two-nucleon interactions and include all three-nucleon forces up to fourth order in the chiral expansion. Our ab initio predictions are restricted to the domain of applicability of chiral effective field theory. However, stellar matter in the interior of neutron stars can be up to several times denser than normal nuclear matter at saturation, and its composition …
We formulate microscopic neutron-nucleus optical potentials from many-body perturbation theory based on chiral two- and three-body forces. The neutron self energy is first calculated in homogeneous matter to second order in perturbation theory, which gives the central real and imaginary terms of the optical potential. The real spin-orbit term is calculated separately from the density matrix expansion using the same chiral interaction as in the self energy. Finally, the full neutron-nucleus optical potential is derived within the improved local density approximation utilizing mean field models …
Spin-polarized neutron matter is studied using chiral two- and three-body forces. We focus, in particular, on predictions of the energy per particle in ferromagnetic neutron matter at different orders of chiral effective field theory and for different choices of the resolution scale. We discuss the convergence pattern of the predictions and their cutoff dependence. We explore to which extent fully polarized neutron matter behaves (nearly) like a free Fermi gas. We also consider the more general case of partial polarization in neutron matter as well as the presence of a small proton fraction. I…
The nucleation process of quark matter in both cold and hot dense hadronic matter is investigated using a chiral approach to describe the quark phase. We use the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio and the Chromo Dielectric models to describe the deconfined phase and the non-linear Walecka model for the hadronic one. The effect of hyperons on the transition phase between hadronic and quark matter is studied. The consequences of the nucleation process for neutron star physics are outlined.
We have studied neutron-rich carbon isotopes in terms of the shell model employing a realistic effective hamiltonian derived from the chiral N3LOW nucleon-nucleon potential. The single-particle energies and effective two-body interaction have been both determined within the framework of the time-dependent degenerate linked-diagram perturbation theory. The calculated results are in very good agreement with the available experimental data, providing a sound description of this isotopic chain toward the neutron dripline. The correct location of the dripline is reproduced.
In the present work the conjunction of chiral SU(3) model with QCD sum rules is employed to explore the possibility of $ρ$ meson condensation in neutron stars. The quark and gluon condensates in terms of which the in-medium masses of $ρ$ mesons can be expressed are calculated using the chiral SU(3) model in the charge neutral matter which is relevant for neutron stars. It is observed that condition of $ρ$ meson condensation is satisfied for the density of about 7$ρ_{0}$, where $ρ_{0}$ is the nuclear saturation density. In the end, a brief qualitative discussion of the magnetic field is also in…
We solve three-nucleon Faddeev equations with nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon forces derived consistently in the framework of chiral perturbation theory at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order in the chiral expansion. In this first investigation we include only matrix elements of the three-nucleon force for partial waves with the total two-nucleon (three-nucleon) angular momenta up to 3 (5/2). Low-energy neutron-deuteron elastic scattering and deuteron breakup reaction are studied. Emphasis is put on Ay puzzle in elastic scattering and cross sections in symmetric-space-star and neutron-neut…
We develop a chiral SU(3) symmetric relativistic mean field (RMF) model with a logarithmic potential of scalar condensates. Experimental and empirical data of symmetric nuclear matter saturation properties, bulk properties of normal nuclei, and separation energies of single- and double-$Λ$ hypernuclei are well explained. The nuclear matter equation of state (EOS) is found to be softened by $σζ$ mixing which comes from determinant interaction. The neutron star matter EOS is further softened by $Λ$ hyperons.
Three-nucleon forces are an essential ingredient for an accurate description of nuclear few- and many-body systems. However, implementing them directly in many-body calculations is technically very challenging. Thus, there is a need for an efficient approximation method. By closing one nucleon line to a loop, it is possible to derive effective in-medium nucleon-nucleon interactions that represent the underlying three-nucleon forces, as constructed in Chiral Effective Field Theory. Since three-neutron forces are equally as important for the computation of the equation of state for pure neutron …
We investigate the equations of state for pure neutron matter and strange hadronic matter in $β$-equilibrium, including $Λ$, $Σ$ and $Ξ$ hyperons. The masses and radii of pure neutron stars and strange hadronic stars are obtained. For a pure neutron star, the maximum mass is about $1.8 M_{\mathrm{sun}}$, while for a strange hadronic star, the maximum mass is around $1.45 M_{\mathrm{sun}}$. The typical radii of pure neutron stars and strange hadronic stars are about 11.0-12.3 km and 10.7-11.7 km, respectively.
Chiral effective field theory (EFT) enables a systematic description of low-energy hadronic interactions with controlled theoretical uncertainties. For strongly interacting systems, quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods provide some of the most accurate solutions, but they require as input local potentials. We have recently constructed local chiral nucleon-nucleon (NN) interactions up to next-to-next-to-leading order (N$^2$LO). Chiral EFT naturally predicts consistent many-body forces. In this paper, we consider the leading chiral three-nucleon (3N) interactions in local form. These are included i…
We report ab initio calculations for neutron drops in a 10 MeV external harmonic-oscillator trap using chiral nucleon-nucleon plus three-nucleon interactions. We present total binding energies, internal energies, radii and odd-even energy differences for neutron numbers N = 2 - 18 using the no-core shell model with and without importance truncation. Furthermore, we present total binding energies for N = 8, 16, 20, 28, 40, 50 obtained in a coupled-cluster approach. Comparisons with Green's Function Monte Carlo results, where available, using Argonne v8' with three-nucleon interactions reveal im…
The long-range terms of the subleading chiral three-nucleon force [published in Phys.\,Rev.\,C77, 064004 (2008)] are specified to the case of three neutrons. From these $3n$-interactions an effective density-dependent neutron-neutron potential $V_\text{med}$ in pure neutron matter is derived. Following the division of the pertinent 3n-diagrams into two-pion exchange, two-pion-one-pion exchange and ring topology, all self-closings and concatenations of two neutron-lines to an in-medium loop are evaluated. The momentum and $k_n$-dependent potentials associated with the spin-operators $1,\, \vecσ…
We present lattice calculations for the ground state energy of dilute neutron matter at next-to-leading order in chiral effective field theory. This study follows a series of recent papers on low-energy nuclear physics using chiral effective field theory on the lattice. In this work we introduce an improved spin- and isospin-projected leading-order action which allows for a perturbative treatment of corrections at next-to-leading order and smaller estimated errors. Using auxiliary fields and Euclidean-time projection Monte Carlo, we compute the ground state of 8, 12, and 16 neutrons in a perio…
We present the first results for the neutron matter equation of state (EOS) using nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon chiral effective field theory interactions that are consistently evolved in the framework of the Similarity Renormalization Group (SRG). The dependence of the EOS on the SRG resolution scale is greatly reduced when induced three-nucleon forces (3NF) are included and the residual variation, which in part is from missing induced four-body interactions, is comparable to estimated many-body perturbation theory truncation errors. The relative growth with decreasing resolution of the 3…
We discuss the {\it SU}(2) chiral sigma model in the context of nuclear matter using a mean field approach at high density. In this model we include a dynamically generated isoscalar vector field and higher-order terms in the scalar field. With the inclusion of these, we reproduce the empirical values of the nuclear matter saturation density, binding energy, and nuclear incompressibility. The value of the incompressibility is chosen according to recently obtained heavy-ion collision data. We then apply the same dynamical model to neutron-rich matter in beta equilibrium, related to neutron star…
Considering the nucleon as a system of confined valence quarks surrounded by pions we derive a Galster-like parameterization of the neutron electric form factor $G_E^n$. Furthermore, we show that the proposed parameterization can be linked to properties of the pion cloud. By this, the high quality data for the pion form factor can be used in predictions of $G_E^n$ in the low $Q^2$ region, where the direct double polarization measurements are not available.
The equations of state for neutron matter, strange and non-strange hadronic matter in a chiral SU(3) quark mean field model are applied in the study of slowly rotating neutron stars and hadronic stars. The radius, mass, moment of inertia, and other physical quantities are carefully examined. The effect of nucleon crust for the strange hadronic star is exhibited. Our results show the rotation can increase the maximum mass of compact stars significantly. For big enough mass of pulsar which can not be explained as strange hadronic star, the theoretical approaches to increase the maximum mass are …
We derive from the subleading contributions to the chiral three-nucleon interaction [published in Phys.~Rev.~C77, 064004 (2008) and Phys.~Rev.~C84, 054001 (2011)] their first-order contributions to the energy per particle of isospin-symmetric nuclear matter and pure neutron matter in an analytical way. For the variety of short-range and long-range terms that constitute the subleading chiral 3N-force the pertinent closed 3-ring, 2-ring, and 1-ring diagrams are evaluated. While 3-ring diagrams vanish by a spin-trace and the results for 2-ring diagrams can be given in terms of elementary function…
We study several structure properties of finite nuclei using relativistic mean-field Lagrangians constructed according to the Brown-Rho scaling due to the chiral symmetry restoration at high densities. The models are consistent with current experimental constraints for the equations of state of symmetric matter at both normal and supra-normal densities and of asymmetric matter at sub-saturation densities. It is shown that these models can successfully describe the binding energies and charge radii of finite nuclei. Compared to calculations with usual relativistic mean-field models, these model…
Determination of the proper power-counting scheme is an important issue for the systematic application of Chiral Effective Field Theory in nuclear physics. We analyze the cutoff dependence of three-nucleon observables (the neutron-deuteron scattering lengths and the triton binding energy) at the leading and next-to-leading orders of a power counting that ensures order-by-order renormalization in the two-nucleon system. Our results imply that three-body forces are not needed for renormalization of the three-nucleon system up to next-to-leading order, as usually assumed in the literature. (Errat…
The axial vector coupling constants of the $β$ decay processes of neutron and hyperon are calculated in SU(3) chiral colour dielectric model (CCDM). Using these axial coupling constants of neutron and hyperon, in CCDM we calculate the integrals of the spin dependent structure functions for proton and neutron. Our result is similar to the results obtained by MIT bag and Cloudy bag models.
In recent years, the combination of advanced quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods and local interactions derived from chiral effective field theory (EFT) has been shown to provide a versatile and systematic approach to nuclear systems. Calculations at next-to-next-to-leading order in chiral EFT have lead to fascinating results for nuclei and nucleonic matter. On the one hand, ground-state properties of nuclei are well reproduced up to $A\leq16$, even though these potentials have been fit to nucleon-nucleon scattering and few-body observables only. On the other hand, a reasonable description of ne…
We study the effect of the nucleon-nucleon-lambda (NN$Λ$) three-body force on neutron stars. In particular, we consider the NN$Λ$ force recently derived by the Jülich--Bonn--Munich group within the framework of chiral effective field theory at next-to-next-to-leading order. This force, together with realistic nucleon-nucleon, nucleon-nucleon-nucleon and nucleon-hyperon interactions, is used to calculate the equation of state and the structure of neutron stars within the many-body non-relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach. Our results show that the inclusion of the NN$Λ$ force leads to a…
In this work we present a framework that allows to solve the Faddeev equations for three-nucleon scattering using the wave-packet continuum-discretization method. We perform systematic benchmarks using results in the literature and study in detail the convergence of this method with respect to the number of wave packets. We compute several different elastic neutron-deuteron scattering cross-section observables for a variety of energies using chiral nucleon-nucleon interactions. For the interaction $\text{N2LO}_{\text{opt}}$ we find good agreement with data for nucleon scattering-energies $E_\t…
We discuss the possibility to extract the neutron-neutron scattering length a_{nn} from experimental spectra on the reaction gamma d --> pi^+ nn. The transition operator is calculated to high accuracy from chiral perturbation theory. We argue that for properly chosen kinematics, the theoretical uncertainty of the method can be as low as 0.1 fm.
Neutron drip line in calcium isotopes from a chiral interaction
Peking University（北京大学）；Texas A&M University（德克萨斯农工大学）；Oak Ridge National Laboratory（橡树岭国家实验室）；Chalmers University of Technology（查尔姆斯理工大学）；University of Tennessee, Knoxville（田纳西大学诺克斯维尔分校）；Johannes Gutenberg-Universität（约翰内斯·古腾堡大学）；University of Tsukuba（筑波大学）
We present a microscopic calculation of the complete quasiparticle interaction, including central as well as noncentral components, in neutron matter from high-precision two- and three-body forces derived within the framework of chiral effective field theory. The contributions from two-nucleon forces are computed in many-body perturbation theory to first and second order (without any simplifying approximations). In addition we include the leading-order one-loop diagrams from the N2LO chiral three-nucleon force, which contribute to all Fermi liquid parameters except those associated with the ce…
Neutron matter presents a unique system in chiral effective field theory (EFT), because all many-body forces among neutrons are predicted to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N3LO). We discuss perturbative and first Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations of neutron matter with chiral EFT interactions and their astrophysical impact for the equation of state and neutron stars.
We compute from chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions the energy per particle of symmetric nuclear matter and pure neutron matter at third-order in perturbation theory including self-consistent second-order single-particle energies. Particular attention is paid to the third-order particle-hole ring-diagram, which is often neglected in microscopic calculations of the equation of state. We provide semi-analytic expressions for the direct terms from central and tensor model-type interactions that are useful as theoretical benchmarks. We investigate uncertainties arising from the order-by-ord…
We investigate the structure of neutron star crusts, including the crust-core boundary, based on new Skyrme mean field models constrained by the bulk-matter equation of state from chiral effective field theory and the ground-state energies of doubly-magic nuclei. Nuclear pasta phases are studied using both the liquid drop model as well as the Thomas-Fermi approximation. We compare the energy per nucleon for each geometry (spherical nuclei, cylindrical nuclei, nuclear slabs, cylindrical holes, and spherical holes) to obtain the ground state phase as a function of density. We find that the size …
Recent lattice QCD studies at vanishing density exhibit the parity-doubling structure for the low-lying baryons around the chiral crossover temperature. This finding is likely an imprint of the chiral symmetry restoration in the baryonic sector of QCD, and is expected to occur also in cold dense matter, which makes it of major relevance for compact stars. By contrast, typical effective models for compact star matter embody chiral physics solely in the deconfined sector, with quarks as degrees of freedom. In this contribution, we present a description of QCD matter based on the effective hybrid…
We review the chiral variant and invariant components of nucleon masses and its consequence on the chiral restoration in extreme conditions, neutron star matter in particular. We consider a model of linear realization of chiral symmetry with the nucleon parity doublet structure that permits the chiral invariant mass, $m_0$, for positive and negative parity nucleons. Nuclear matter is constructed with the parity doublet nucleon model coupled to scalar fields $σ$, vector fields $(ω, ρ)$, and to mesons with strangeness through the U(1)$_A$ anomaly. In models with large $m_0$, the nucleon mass is …
The equation of state of beta-stable and charge neutral nucleonic matter is computed within the SU(2) parity doublet model in mean field and in the relativistic Hartree approximation. The mass of the chiral partner of the nucleon is assumed to be 1200 MeV. The transition to the chiral restored phase turns out to be a smooth crossover in all the cases considered, taking place at a baryon density of just $2ρ_0$. The mass-radius relations of compact stars are calculated to constrain the model parameters from the maximum mass limit of neutron stars. It is demonstrated that chiral symmetry starts t…
We calculate the nuclear and neutron matter equations of state from microscopic nuclear forces at different orders in chiral effective field theory and with varying momentum-space cutoff scales. We focus attention on how the order-by-order convergence depends on the choice of resolution scale and the implications for theoretical uncertainty estimates on the isospin asymmetry energy. Specifically we study the equations of state using consistent NLO and N2LO (next-to-next-to-leading order) chiral potentials where the low-energy constants cD and cE associated with contact vertices in the N2LO chi…
The cross section for radiative thermal neutron capture on ${}^{3}He$ ($\He3 +n \to \He4 +γ$; known as the $hen$ reaction) is calculated based on heavy-baryon chiral perturbation theory. The relevant M1 operators are derived up to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N${}^3$LO). The initial and final nuclear wave functions are obtained from the rigorous Faddeev-Yakubovski equations for five sets of realistic nuclear interactions. Up to N${}^3$LO, the M1 operators contain two low-energy constants, which appear as the coefficients of non-derivative two-nucleon contact terms. After determining …
We present quantum Monte Carlo calculations of light nuclei, neutron-$α$ scattering, and neutron matter using local two- and three-nucleon ($3N$) interactions derived from chiral effective field theory up to next-to-next-to-leading order (N$^2$LO). The two undetermined $3N$ low-energy couplings are fit to the $^4$He binding energy and, for the first time, to the spin-orbit splitting in the neutron-$α$ $P$-wave phase shifts. Furthermore, we investigate different choices of local $3N$-operator structures and find that chiral interactions at N$^2$LO are able to simultaneously reproduce the proper…
We study the ${}^{1}S_0$ proton pairing gap in beta-equilibrated neutron star matter within the framework of chiral effective field theory. We focus on the role of three-body forces, which strongly modify the effective proton-proton spin-singlet interaction in dense matter. We find that three-body forces generically reduce both the size of the pairing gap and the maximum density at which proton pairing may occur. The pairing gap is computed within BCS theory, and model uncertainties are estimated by varying the nuclear potential and the choice of single-particle spectrum in the gap equation. W…
We calculate the electric dipole moments of the neutron and the Lambda within the framework of heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory. They are induced by strong CP-violating terms of the effective Lagrangian in the presence of the vacuum angle theta_0. The construction of such a Lagrangian is outlined and we are able to give an estimate for theta_0.
We review on a chiral power counting scheme for in-medium chiral perturbation theory with nucleons and pions as degrees of freedom \cite{ref}. It allows for a systematic expansion taking into account local as well as pion-mediated inter-nucleon interactions. Based on this power counting, one can identify classes of non-perturbative diagrams that require a resummation. We then calculate the nuclear matter energy density for the symmetric and purely neutron matter cases up-to-and-including next-to-leading order (NLO), in good agreement with sophisticated many-body calculations. Next, the neutron…
Based on an equivparticle model, we investigate the in-medium quark condensate in neutron stars. Carrying out a Taylor expansion of the nuclear binding energy to the order of $ρ^3$, we obtain a series of EOSs for neutron star matter, which are confronted with the latest nuclear and astrophysical constraints. The in-medium quark condensate is then extracted from the constrained properties of neutron star matter, which decreases non-linearly with density. However, the chiral symmetry is only partially restored with non-vanishing quark condensates, which may vanish at a density that is out of rea…
A compressible liquid-drop approach adjusted to uniform matter many-body calculations based on chiral EFT interactions and to the experimental nuclear masses is used to investigate the neutron star crust properties. Eight chiral EFT hamiltonians and a representative phenomenological force (SLy4) are confronted. We show that some properties of the crust, e.g. clusters mass, charge, and asymmetry, are mostly determined by symmetric matter properties close to saturation density and are therefore mainly constrained by experimental nuclear masses, while other properties, e.g., energy per particle, …
We calculate the chiral condensate in neutron matter at zero temperature based on nuclear forces derived within chiral effective field theory. Two-, three- and four-nucleon interactions are included consistently to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N3LO) of the chiral expansion. We find that the interaction contributions lead to a modest increase of the condensate, thus impeding the restoration of chiral symmetry in dense matter and making a chiral phase transition in neutron-rich matter unlikely for densities that are not significantly higher than nuclear saturation density.
A particle rotor model (PRM) with a quasi-proton and a quasi-neutron coupled with a triaxial rotor is developed and applied to study chiral doublet bands with configurations of a $h_{11/2}$ proton and a $h_{11/2}$ quasi-neutron. With pairing treated by the BCS approximation, the present quasi-particle PRM is aimed at simulating one proton and many neutron holes coupled with a triaxial rotor. After a detailed analysis of the angular momentum orientations, energy separation between the partner bands, and behavior of electromagnetic transitions, for the first time we find aplanar rotation or equi…
The nucleon density distributions and the thickness of pure neutron matter in Ca isotopes were systematically studied using the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock model (SHF) from the $β$-stability line to the neutron drip-line. The pure neutron matter, related with the neutron skin or halo, was shown to depend not only on the Fermi levels of the neutrons but also on the orbital angular momentum of the valence neutrons. New definitions for the thickness of pure neutron matter are proposed.
Recent proposals have suggested that a previously unknown decay mode of the neutron into a dark matter particle could solve the long lasting measurement problem of the neutron decay width. We show that, if the dark particle in neutron decay is the major component of the dark matter in the universe, this proposal is in disagreement with modern astro-physical data concerning neutron star masses.
