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At least 397 records · Page 22

Entanglement rearrangement in self-consistent nuclear structure calculations

Background: Entanglement plays a central role in a diverse array of increasingly important research areas, including quantum computation, simulation, measurement, sensing, and communication. Extensive suites of investigations have been performed to better understand entanglement in atomic and molecular quantum many-body systems, while the exploration of entanglement in the structure of nuclei and their reactions is presently in its infancy. Purpose: The goal of this work is to begin investigating the entanglement properties of nuclei from first-principles nuclear many-body calculations. We attempt to identify common features and emergent structures of entanglement that could ultimately lead to new and natural many-body schemes. With an eye toward quantum accelerators in future hybrid-supercomputers, criteria for partitioning nuclear many-body calculations into quantum and classical components may provide advantages in future large-scale computations. Along the way we look for explanations of the relative success of phenomenological models such as the nuclear shell model, and for better ways to match to low-energy nuclear effective field theories and lattice QCD calculations to nuclear many-body techniques that are based upon entanglement. Method: We explore the entanglement between single-particle states in 4 He and 6 He. The patterns of entanglement emerging from different single-particle bases are compared, and possible links with the convergence of observables are explored, in particular, ground-state energies. The nuclear wave functions are obtained by performing active-space no-core configuration-interaction calculations using a two-body nucleon-nucleon interaction derived from chiral effective field theory. Entanglement measures within single-particle bases exhibiting different degrees of complexity are determined, in particular, harmonic oscillator (HO), Hartree-Fock (HF), natural (NAT) and variational natural (VNAT) bases. Specifically, single-orbital entanglement entropy, two-orbital mutual information, and negativity are studied. Results: The entanglement structures in 4 He and 6 He are found to be more localized within NAT and VNAT bases than within a HO basis for the optimal HO parameters we have worked with. In particular a core-valence structure clearly emerges from the full no-core calculation of 6 He. Here, the two-nucleon mutual information shows that the VNAT basis, which typically exhibits good convergence properties, effectively decouples the active and inactive spaces. Conclusions: Measures of one- and two-nucleon entanglement are found to be useful in analyzing the structure of nuclear wave functions, in particular the efficacy of basis states, and may provide useful metrics toward developing more efficient schemes for ab initio computations of the structure and reactions of nuclei, and quantum many-body systems more generally.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Multimodal fission from self-consistent calculations

When multiple fission modes coexist in a given nucleus, distinct fragment yield distributions appear. Multimodal fission has been observed in a number of fissioning nuclei spanning the nuclear chart, and this phenomenon is expected to affect the nuclear abundances synthesized during the rapid neutron-capture process (𝑟-process). In this study, we generalize the previously proposed hybrid model for fission-fragment yield distributions to predict competing fission modes and estimate the resulting yield distributions. Here, our framework allows for a comprehensive large-scale calculation of fission-fragment yields suited for 𝑟-process nuclear network studies. Nuclear density functional theory is employed to obtain the potential energy and collective inertia tensor on a multidimensional collective space defined by mass multipole moments. Fission pathways and their relative probabilities are determined using the nudged elastic band method. Based on this information, mass and charge fission yields are predicted using the recently developed hybrid model. Fission properties of fermium isotopes are calculated in the axial quadrupole-octupole collective space for three energy density functionals (EDFs). Disagreement between the EDFs appears when multiple fission modes are present. Within our framework, the UNEDF⁢1 HFB EDF agrees best with experimental data. Calculations in the axial quadrupole-octupole-hexadecapole collective space improve the agreement with the experiment for SkM*. We also discuss the sensitivity of fission predictions on the choice of EDF for several superheavy nuclei. Fission-fragment yield predictions for nuclei with multiple fission modes are sensitive to the underlying EDF. For large-scale calculations in which a minimal number of collective coordinates is considered, UNEDF⁢1 HFB provides the best description of experimental data, though the sensitivity motivates robust quantification of the uncertainties of the theoretical model.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Cosmological forecasts for future galaxy surveys with the linear point standard ruler: Toward consistent BAO analyses far from a fiducial cosmology

The linear point (LP) standard ruler was identified as the basis of a purely geometric method for exploiting the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). The LP exploits the BAO feature imprinted in the galaxy two-point correlation function to measure cosmological distances independent of any specific cosmological model. We forecast the expected precision of future and ongoing spectroscopic galaxy surveys to measure distances leveraging the linear point. We investigate the cosmological implications of our forecasted results. We focus in particular on a relevant working example: the detection of the late-time cosmic acceleration independent of other cosmological probes. Further, our findings show that, even within the Λ⁢CDM standard cosmological paradigm, estimated distances need to be reliable over a very wide parameter range in order to realize their maximum utility. This is particularly relevant if we aim to properly characterize cosmological tensions. The LP is a promising candidate approach to achieve this reliability. In contrast, widely employed procedures in BAO analysis estimate distances keeping fixed cosmological parameters to fiducial values close to cosmic-microwave-background constraints in flat-Λ⁢CDM. It is unclear whether they are purely geometric methods. Moreover, they rely on untested extrapolations to explore the parameter space away from those fiducial flat-Λ⁢CDM values. We recommend that all BAO methodologies be validated across the full range of models and parameters over which their results are quoted, first by means of linear predictions and then N -body simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Self-consistent analysis for the η c → γ γ process

The next-to-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) perturbative QCD (pQCD) predictions for both the decay width and the transition form factor in the η c → γ γ process, based on nonrelativistic QCD (NRQCD), deviate from precise experimental measurements. These significant discrepancies have cast doubt on the applicability of NRQCD to charmonium processes. In this paper, we analyze the η c → γ γ process by applying the principle of maximum conformality (PMC), a systematic method for eliminating renormalization scheme-and-scale ambiguities. The PMC renormalization scales are determined by absorbing the nonconformal β -terms that govern the behavior of the QCD running coupling via the renormalization group equation. We obtain the PMC scale Q ⋆ = 4.49 m c for the η c → γ γ decay width. Even after using the PMC method, the convergence of the pQCD series is still poor, which indicates the importance of uncalculated next-to-next-to-next-to-leading-order and higher-order terms. The resulting value for Γ η c → γ γ is in agreement with the Particle Data Group’s reported value of Γ η c → γ γ = 5.1 ± 0.4 keV within the bounds of uncertainties. Moreover, the transition form factor obtained using the PMC is also in good agreement with precise experimental measurements. The application of the PMC suggests a potential resolution to η c → γ γ puzzle and supports the applicability of NRQCD to charmonium processes. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Acclimation of leaf respiration consistent with optimal photosynthetic capacity

Abstract Plant respiration is an important contributor to the proposed positive global carbon‐cycle feedback to climate change. However, as a major component, leaf mitochondrial (‘dark’) respiration ( R d ) differs among species adapted to contrasting environments and is known to acclimate to sustained changes in temperature. No accepted theory explains these phenomena or predicts its magnitude. Here we propose that the acclimation of R d follows an optimal behaviour related to the need to maintain long‐term average photosynthetic capacity ( V cmax ) so that available environmental resources can be most efficiently used for photosynthesis. To test this hypothesis, we extend photosynthetic co‐ordination theory to predict the acclimation of R d to growth temperature via a link to V cmax , and compare predictions to a global set of measurements from 112 sites spanning all terrestrial biomes. This extended co‐ordination theory predicts that field‐measured R d and V cmax accessed at growth temperature ( R d,tg and V cmax,tg ) should increase by 3.7% and 5.5% per degree increase in growth temperature. These acclimated responses to growth temperature are less steep than the corresponding instantaneous responses, which increase 8.1% and 9.9% per degree of measurement temperature for R d and V cmax respectively. Data‐fitted responses proof indistinguishable from the values predicted by our theory, and smaller than the instantaneous responses. Theory and data are also shown to agree that the basal rates of both R d and V cmax assessed at 25°C ( R d,25 and V cmax,25 ) decline by ~4.4% per degree increase in growth temperature. These results provide a parsimonious general theory for R d acclimation to temperature that is simpler—and potentially more reliable—than the plant functional type‐based leaf respiration schemes currently employed in most ecosystem and land‐surface models.

Wang, Han↗