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Schmidt, K. E.

Publications and source records attributed to Schmidt, K. E..

5 records

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2018

Auxiliary field diffusion Monte Carlo calculations of light and medium-mass nuclei with local chiral interactions

Quantum Monte Carlo methods have recently been employed to study properties of nuclei and infinite matter using local chiral effective-field-theory interactions. In this paper, we present a detailed description of the auxiliary field diffusion Monte Carlo algorithm for nuclei in combination with local chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions up to next-to-next-to-leading order. We show results for the binding energy, charge radius, charge form factor, and Coulomb sum rule in nuclei with $3{\le}A{\le}16$. Particular attention is devoted to the effect of different operator structures in the three-body force for different cutoffs. Finally, the outcomes suggest that local chiral interactions fit to few-body observables give a very good description of the ground-state properties of nuclei up to $^{16}\mathrm{O}$, with the exception of one fit for the softer cutoff which predicts overbinding in larger nuclei.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2018

Properties of Nuclei up to A = 16 using Local Chiral Interactions

Here, we report accurate quantum Monte Carlo calculations of nuclei up to A = 16 based on local chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions up to next-to-next-to-leading order. We examine the theoretical uncertainties associated with the chiral expansion and the cutoff in the theory, as well as the associated operator choices in the three-nucleon interactions. While in light nuclei the cutoff variation and systematic uncertainties are rather small, in 16 O these can be significant for large coordinate-space cutoffs. Overall, we show that chiral interactions constructed to reproduce properties of very light systems and nucleon-nucleon scattering give an excellent description of binding energies, charge radii, and form factors for all these nuclei, including open-shell systems in A = 6 and 12.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of light nuclei with local chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions

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 paper, 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 correlations and approximations for the two- and three-body propagators. Finally, following this, we present a range of results on light nuclei: Binding energies and distribution functions are contrasted and compared, starting from several different microscopic interactions.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Chiral Three-Nucleon Interactions in Light Nuclei, Neutron-α Scattering, and Neutron Matter

Here we present quantum Monte Carlo calculations of light nuclei, neutron- scattering, and neutron matter using local two- and three-nucleon (3N) interactions derived from chiral e effective fi eld theory up to next-to-next-to-leading order (N 2 LO). The two undetermined 3N low-energy couplings are fi t to the 4 He binding energy and, for the first time, to the spin-orbit splitting in the neutron- 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 properties of A = 3; 4; 5 systems and of neutron matter, in contrast to commonly used phenomenological 3N interactions.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Quantum Monte Carlo methods for nuclear physics

Quantum Monte Carlo methods have proved valuable to study the structure and reactions of light nuclei and nucleonic matter starting from realistic nuclear interactions and currents. These ab-initio calculations reproduce many low-lying states, moments, and transitions in light nuclei, and simultaneously predict many properties of light nuclei and neutron matter over a rather wide range of energy and momenta. The nuclear interactions and currents are reviewed along with a description of the continuum quantum Monte Carlo methods used in nuclear physics. These methods are similar to those used in condensed matter and electronic structure but naturally include spin-isospin, tensor, spin-orbit, and three-body interactions. A variety of results are presented, including the low-lying spectra of light nuclei, nuclear form factors, and transition matrix elements. Low-energy scattering techniques, studies of the electroweak response of nuclei relevant in electron and neutrino scattering, and the properties of dense nucleonic matter as found in neutron stars are also described. Furthermore, a coherent picture of nuclear structure and dynamics emerges based upon rather simple but realistic interactions and currents.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗