arXiv subjects

A. Ekström

Publications and source records attributed to A. Ekström.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Uncertainty quantification for proton-proton fusion in chiral effective field theory

We compute the $S$-factor of the proton-proton ($pp$) fusion reaction using chiral effective field theory ($χ$EFT) up to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) and perform a rigorous uncertainty analysis of the results. We quantify the uncertainties due to (i) the computational method used to compute the $pp$ cross section in momentum space, (ii) the statistical uncertainties in the low-energy coupling constants of $χ$EFT, (iii) the systematic uncertainty due to the $χ$EFT cutoff, and (iv) systematic variations in the database used to calibrate the nucleon-nucleon interaction. We also examine the robustness of the polynomial extrapolation procedure, which is commonly used to extract the threshold $S$-factor and its energy-derivatives. By performing a statistical analysis of the polynomial fit of the energy-dependent $S$-factor at several different energy intervals, we eliminate a systematic uncertainty that can arise from the choice of the fit interval in our calculations. In addition, we explore the statistical correlations between the $S$-factor and few-nucleon observables such as the binding energies and point-proton radii of $^{2,3}$H and $^3$He as well as the $D$-state probability and quadrupole moment of $^2$H, and the $β$-decay of $^{3}$H. We find that, with the state-of-the-art optimization of the nuclear Hamiltonian, the statistical uncertainty in the threshold $S$-factor cannot be reduced beyond 0.7%.

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arXiv2016

Effective field theory in the harmonic oscillator basis

We develop interactions from chiral effective field theory (EFT) that are tailored to the harmonic oscillator basis. As a consequence, ultraviolet convergence with respect to the model space is implemented by construction and infrared convergence can be achieved by enlarging the model space for the kinetic energy. In oscillator EFT, matrix elements of EFTs formulated for continuous momenta are evaluated at the discrete momenta that stem from the diagonalization of the kinetic energy in the finite oscillator space. By fitting to realistic phase shifts and deuteron data we construct an effective interaction from chiral EFT at next-to-leading order. Many-body coupled-cluster calculations of nuclei up to 132Sn exhibit a fast convergence of ground-state energies and radii in feasible model spaces.

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arXiv2016

Uncertainty analysis and order-by-order optimization of chiral nuclear interactions

Chiral effective field theory (chiEFT) provides a systematic approach to describe low-energy nuclear forces. Moreover, chiEFT is able to provide well-founded estimates of statistical and systematic uncertainties -- although this unique advantage has not yet been fully exploited. We fill this gap by performing an optimization and statistical analysis of all the low-energy constants (LECs) up to next-to-next-to-leading order. Our optimization protocol corresponds to a simultaneous fit to scattering and bound-state observables in the pion-nucleon, nucleon-nucleon, and few-nucleon sectors, thereby utilizing the full model capabilities of chiEFT. We study the effect on other observables by demonstrating error-propagation methods that can easily be adopted by future works. We employ mathematical optimization and implement automatic differentiation to attain efficient and machine-precise first- and second-order derivatives of the objective function with respect to the LECs. We use power-counting arguments to estimate the systematic uncertainty that is inherent to chiEFT and we construct chiral interactions at different orders with quantified uncertainties. Statistical error propagation is compared with Monte Carlo sampling showing that statistical errors are in general small compared to systematic ones. In conclusion, we find that a simultaneous fit to different sets of data is critical to (i) identify the optimal set of LECs, (ii) capture all relevant correlations, (iii) reduce the statistical uncertainty, and (iv) attain order-by-order convergence in chiEFT. Furthermore, certain systematic uncertainties in the few-nucleon sector are shown to get substantially magnified in the many-body sector; in particlar when varying the cutoff in the chiral potentials. The methodology and results presented in this Paper open a new frontier for uncertainty quantification in ab initio nuclear theory.

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arXiv2015

Charge, neutron, and weak size of the atomic nucleus

What is the size of the atomic nucleus? This deceivably simple question is difficult to answer. While the electric charge distributions in atomic nuclei were measured accurately already half a century ago, our knowledge of the distribution of neutrons is still deficient. In addition to constraining the size of atomic nuclei, the neutron distribution also impacts the number of nuclei that can exist and the size of neutron stars. We present an ab initio calculation of the neutron distribution of the neutron-rich nucleus $^{48}$Ca. We show that the neutron skin (difference between radii of neutron and proton distributions) is significantly smaller than previously thought. We also make predictions for the electric dipole polarizability and the weak form factor; both quantities are currently targeted by precision measurements. Based on ab initio results for $^{48}$Ca, we provide a constraint on the size of a neutron star.

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arXiv2014

Uncertainty Quantification of the Pion-Nucleon Low-Energy Coupling Constants up to Fourth Order in Chiral Perturbation Theory

We extract the statistical uncertainties for the pion-nucleon ($πN$) low energy constants (LECs) up to fourth order $\mathcal{O}(Q^4)$ in the chiral expansion of the nuclear effective Lagrangian. The LECs are optimized with respect to experimental scattering data. For comparison, we also present an uncertainty quantification that is based solely on \pin{} scattering phase shifts. Statistical errors on the LECs are critical in order to estimate the subsequent uncertainties in \textit{ab initio} modeling of light and medium mass nuclei which exploit chiral effective field theory. As an example of the this, we present the first complete predictions with uncertainty quantification of peripheral phase shifts of elastic proton-neutron scattering.

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arXiv2014

Statistical uncertainties of a chiral interaction at next-to-next-to leading order

We have quantified the statistical uncertainties of the low-energy coupling-constants (LECs) of an optimized nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction from chiral effective field theory ($χ$EFT) at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO). In addition, we have propagated the impact of the uncertainties of the LECs to two-nucleon scattering phase shifts, effective range parameters, and deuteron observables.

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arXiv2014

Effects of three-nucleon forces and two-body currents on Gamow-Teller strengths

We optimize chiral interactions at next-to-next-to leading order to observables in two- and three-nucleon systems, and compute Gamow-Teller transitions in carbon-14, oxygen-22 and oxygen-24 using consistent two-body currents. We compute spectra of the daughter nuclei nitrogen-14, fluorine-22 and fluorine-24 via an isospin-breaking coupled-cluster technique, with several predictions. The two-body currents reduce the Ikeda sum rule, corresponding to a quenching factor q^2 ~ 0.84-0.92 of the axial-vector coupling. The half life of carbon-14 depends on the energy of the first excited 1+ state, the three-nucleon force, and the two-body current.

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arXiv2013

Coupled-cluster studies of infinite nuclear matter

The aim of this work is to develop the relevant formalism for performing coupled-cluster (CC) calculations in nuclear matter and neutron star matter, including thereby important correlations to infinite order in the interaction and testing modern nuclear forces based on chiral effective field theory. Our formalism includes the exact treatment of the so-called Pauli operator in a partial wave expansion of the equation of state. Nuclear and neutron matter calculations are done using a coupled particle-particle and hole-hole ladder approximation. The coupled ladder equations are derived as an approximation of CC theory, leaving out particle-hole and non-linear diagrams from the CC doubles amplitude equation. This study is a first step toward CC calculations for nuclear and neutron matter. We present results for both symmetric nuclear matter and pure neutron matter employing state-of-the-art nucleon-nucleon interactions based on chiral effective field theory. We employ also the newly optimized chiral interaction [A. Ekström et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 192502 (2013)] to study infinite nuclear matter. The ladder approximation method and corresponding results are compared with conventional Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory.

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arXiv2013

Coupled-cluster calculations of nucleonic matter

Background: The equation of state (EoS) of nucleonic matter is central for the understanding of bulk nuclear properties, the physics of neutron star crusts, and the energy release in supernova explosions. Purpose: This work presents coupled-cluster calculations of infinite nucleonic matter using modern interactions from chiral effective field theory (EFT). It assesses the role of correlations beyond particle-particle and hole-hole ladders, and the role of three-nucleon-forces (3NFs) in nuclear matter calculations with chiral interactions. Methods: This work employs the optimized nucleon-nucleon NN potential NNLOopt at next-to-next-to leading-order, and presents coupled-cluster computations of the EoS for symmetric nuclear matter and neutron matter. The coupled-cluster method employs up to selected triples clusters and the single-particle space consists of a momentum-space lattice. We compare our results with benchmark calculations and control finite-size effects and shell oscillations via twist-averaged boundary conditions. Results: We provide several benchmarks to validate the formalism and show that our results exhibit a good convergence toward the thermodynamic limit. While neutron matter with interactions from chiral EFT is perturbative, symmetric nuclear matter requires nonperturbative approaches. Correlations beyond the standard particle-particle ladder approximation yield non-negligible contributions. The saturation point of symmetric nuclear matter is sensitive to the employed 3NFs and the employed regularization scheme. 3NFs with nonlocal cutoffs exhibit a considerably improved convergence than their local cousins. We are unable to find values for the parameters of the short-range part of the local 3NF that simultaneously yield acceptable values for the saturation point in symmetric nuclear matter and the binding energies of light nuclei.

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arXiv2013

An optimized chiral nucleon-nucleon interaction at next-to-next-to-leading order

We optimize the nucleon-nucleon interaction from chiral effective field theory at next-to-next- to-leading order. The resulting new chiral force NNLOopt yields χ^2 \approx 1 per degree of freedom for laboratory energies below approximately 125 MeV. In the A = 3, 4 nucleon systems, the contributions of three-nucleon forces are smaller than for previous parametrizations of chiral interactions. We use NNLOopt to study properties of key nuclei and neutron matter, and demonstrate that many aspects of nuclear structure can be understood in terms of this nucleon-nucleon interaction, without explicitly invoking three-nucleon forces.

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arXiv2010

Coulomb excitation of 73Ga

The B(E2; Ii -> If) values for transitions in 71Ga and 73Ga were deduced from a Coulomb excitation experiment at the safe energy of 2.95 MeV/nucleon using post-accelerated beams of 71,73Ga at the REX-ISOLDE on-line isotope mass separator facility. The emitted gamma rays were detected by the MINIBALL-detector array and B(E2; Ii->If) values were obtained from the yields normalized to the known strength of the 2+ -> 0+ transition in the 120Sn target. The comparison of these new results with the data of less neutron-rich gallium isotopes shows a shift of the E2 collectivity towards lower excitation energy when adding neutrons beyond N = 40. This supports conclusions from previous studies of the gallium isotopes which indicated a structural change in this isotopical chain between N = 40 and N = 42. Combined with recent measurements from collinear laser spectroscopy showing a 1/2- spin and parity for the ground state, the extracted results revealed evidence for a 1/2-; 3/2- doublet near the ground state in 73 31Ga42 differing by at most 0.8 keV in energy.

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