arXiv subjects

Brendan T. Reed

Publications and source records attributed to Brendan T. Reed.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Constraining Hamiltonians from chiral effective field theory with neutron-star data

Multi-messenger observations of neutron stars (NSs) and their mergers have placed strong constraints on the dense-matter equation of state (EOS). The EOS, in turn, depends on microscopic nuclear interactions that are described by nuclear Hamiltonians. These Hamiltonians are commonly derived within chiral effective field theory (EFT). Ideally, multi-messenger observations of NSs could be used to directly inform our understanding of EFT interactions, but such a direct inference necessitates millions of model evaluations. This is computationally prohibitive because each evaluation requires us to calculate the EOS from a Hamiltonian by solving the quantum many-body problem with methods such as auxiliary-field diffusion Monte Carlo (AFDMC), which provides very accurate and precise solutions but at a significant computational cost. Additionally, we need to solve the stellar structure equations for each EOS which further slows down each model evaluation by a few seconds. In this work, we combine emulators for AFDMC calculations of neutron matter, built using parametric matrix models, and for the stellar structure equations, built using multilayer perceptron neural networks, with the \texttt{PyCBC} data-analysis framework to enable a direct inference of coupling constants in an EFT Hamiltonian using multi-messenger observations of NSs. We find that astrophysical data can provide informative constraints on two-nucleon couplings despite the high densities probed in NS interiors.

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arXiv2026

Electroweak Radiative Corrections to Parity-Violating Electron-Nucleus Scattering

Parity-violating electron-scattering provides a largely model independent way of measuring neutron densities in nuclei that has important implications for the structure of nuclei and neutron stars. In this paper we calculate radiative corrections to the parity-violating asymmetry $A_{\rm pv}$ in electron-nucleus scattering including vertex and vacuum polarization contributions. We find large cancellations between the vertex corrections to the vector and axial-vector vertices. As a result the total radiative correction in 2nd Born approximation is dominated by vacuum polarization and is of order -0.5\%. Coulomb distortions have modest effects on radiative corrections for $^{12}$C and $^{48}$Ca nuclei. For $^{208}$Pb Coulomb distortions reduce the total radiative correction to only about 0.1\%. Therefore, these corrections are not important for the interpretation of the PREX and MREX experiments on $^{208}$Pb and for the CREX experiment on $^{48}$Ca. However, radiative corrections must be carefully included for a precision measurement of the weak charge of $^{12}$C.

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arXiv2026

Direct Inference of Nuclear Equation-of-State Parameters from Gravitational-Wave Observations

The observation of neutron star mergers with gravitational waves (GWs) has provided a new method to constrain the dense-matter equation of state (EOS) and to better understand its nuclear physics. However, inferring nuclear microphysics from GW observations necessitates the sampling of EOS model parameters that serve as input for each EOS used during the GW data analysis. The sampling of the EOS parameters requires solving the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV) equations a large number of times -- a process that slows down each likelihood evaluation in the analysis on the order of a few seconds. Here, we employ emulators for the TOV equations built using multilayer perceptron neural networks to enable direct inference of nuclear EOS parameters from GW strain data. Our emulators allow us to rapidly solve the TOV equations, taking in EOS parameters and outputting the associated tidal deformability of a neutron star in only a few tens of milliseconds. We implement these emulators in \texttt{PyCBC} to directly infer the EOS parameters using the event GW170817, providing posteriors on these parameters informed solely by GWs. We benchmark these runs against analyses performed using the full TOV solver and find that the emulators achieve speed ups of nearly \emph{two orders of magnitude}, with negligible differences in the recovered posteriors. Additionally, we constrain the slope and curvature of the symmetry energy at the 90\% upper credible interval to be $L_{\rm sym}\lesssim106$ MeV and $K_{\rm sym}\lesssim26$ MeV.

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arXiv2026

Spin-2 Mesons in a Relativistic Hartree Description of Nuclei

The role of the isovector spin-orbit potential in nuclear modeling has recently been explored in greater detail due largely in part to the PREX and CREX parity violating electron scattering (PVES) experiments. The result of both experiments have shown that the neutron-rich skins of $^{48}$Ca and $^{208}$Pb, as determined by the experimental analysis, are largely incompatible with current nuclear model predictions. One way to address, and potentially solve, this incompatibility has been to enhance the isovector spin-orbit sector of density functional models. Here, we explore the range of possible enhancements in the context of covariant density functional theory by introducing a new class of spin-2 \textit{massive} mesons to the Lagrangian. In doing so, we find that these mesons not only meaningfully contribute to the theory, but also mitigate problems seen in other works which enhance spin-orbit effects in finite nuclei. We also discuss the implications and future regarding this ``dilemma'' as it pertains to studies of nuclear forces and future experiments such as the Mainz Radius Experiment (MREX).

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arXiv2026

Comment on QED Corrections to the Parity Violating Asymmetry in High-Energy Electron-Nucleus Scattering

In a recent letter Roca-Maza and Jakubassa-Amundsen claim a large $\approx 5\%$ radiative correction to the parity-violating asymmetry $A_{pv}$ in electron-nucleus scattering. If true, this would be important for the interpretation of the PREX, CREX, and MREX experiments. However, Roca-Maza and Jakubassa-Amundsen do not explicitly include the axial-vector vertex correction to $Z^0$ exchange (at the momentum transfer of the experiment). We show that including this cancels much of the change in $A_{pv}$.

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arXiv2025

Connecting Relativistic Density Functional Theory to Microscopic Calculations

The development of systematic effective field theories (EFTs) for nuclear forces and advances in solving the nuclear many-body problem have greatly improved our understanding of dense nuclear matter and the structure of finite nuclei. For global nuclear calculations, density functional theories (DFTs) have been developed to reduce the complexity and computational cost required in describing nuclear systems. However, DFT often makes approximations and assumptions about terms included in the functional, which may introduce systematic uncertainties compared to microscopic calculations using EFTs. In this work, we investigate possible avenues of improving nuclear DFT using nonlinear relativistic mean-field (RMF) theory. We explore the impact of RMF model extensions by fitting the nonlinear RMF model to predictions of nuclear matter and selected closed-shell nuclei using four successful chiral EFT Hamiltonians. We find that these model extensions are impactful and important in capturing the physics present within chiral Hamiltonians, particularly for charge radii and neutron skins of closed-shell nuclei. However, there are additional effects that are not captured within the RMF model, particularly within the isoscalar sector of RMF theory. Additional model extensions and the reliability of the nonlinear RMF model are discussed.

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arXiv2025

From existing and new nuclear and astrophysical constraints to stringent limits on the equation of state of neutron-rich dense matter

Through continuous progress in nuclear theory and experiment and an increasing number of neutron-star observations, a multitude of information about the equation of state (EOS) for matter at extreme densities is available. To constrain the EOS across its entire density range, this information needs to be combined consistently. However, the impact and model-dependency of individual observations vary. We present a broad compendium of different constraints and apply them individually to a large set of EOS candidates within a Bayesian framework. Specifically, we explore different ways how chiral effective field theory and perturbative quantum chromodynamics can be used to place a likelihood on EOS candidates. We also investigate the impact of nuclear experimental constraints, as well as different radio and X-ray observations of neutron star (NS) masses and radii. This is augmented by reanalyses of the existing data from BNS coalescences, in particular of GW170817, with improved models for the tidal waveform and kilonova light curves, which we also utilize to construct a tight upper limit of 2.39$\,$M$_\odot$ on the TOV mass based on GW170817's remnant. Our diverse set of constraints is eventually combined to obtain stringent limits on NS properties. We organize the combination in a way to distinguish between constraints where the systematic uncertainties are deemed small and those that rely on less conservative assumptions. For the former, we find the radius of the canonical 1.4$\,$M$_\odot$ neutron star to be $R_{1.4}= 12.26_{-0.91}^{+0.80}\,$km and the TOV mass at $M_{\rm TOV}= 2.25_{-0.22}^{+0.42}\,$M$_\odot$ (95% credibility). Including all the presented constraints yields $R_{1.4}= 12.20_{-0.48}^{+0.50}\,$km and $M_{\rm TOV}= 2.30_{-0.20}^{+0.07}\,$M$_\odot$.

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arXiv2024

Towards accelerated nuclear-physics parameter estimation from binary neutron star mergers: Emulators for the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations

Gravitational-wave observations of binary neutron-star (BNS) mergers have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the nuclear equation of state (EOS) and the fundamental interactions that determine its properties. However, Bayesian parameter estimation frameworks do not typically sample over microscopic nuclear-physics parameters that determine the EOS. One of the major hurdles in doing so is the computational cost involved in solving the neutron-star structure equations, known as the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV) equations. In this paper, we explore approaches to emulating solutions for the TOV equations: Multilayer Perceptrons (MLP), Gaussian Processes (GP), and a data-driven variant of the reduced basis method (RBM). We implement these emulators for three different parameterizations of the nuclear EOS, each with a different degree of complexity represented by the number of model parameters. We find that our MLP-based emulators are generally more accurate than the other two algorithms whereas the RBM results in the largest speedup with respect to the full, high-fidelity TOV solver. We employ these emulators for a simple parameter inference using a potentially loud BNS observation, and show that the posteriors predicted by our emulators are in excellent agreement with those obtained from the full TOV solver.

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arXiv2024

Density Dependence of the Symmetry Energy in the Post PREX-CREX Era

The recently published CREX results suggest a rather peculiar picture for the density dependence of the symmetry energy. Whereas PREX favors a large neutron skin thickness in $^{208}$Pb, thereby suggesting a stiff equation of state, CREX suggests instead a much softer equation of state. This discrepancy has caused a large spur in the theoretical community since no model has been able to simultaneously reproduce within $1σ$ the PREX and CREX results. Motivated by a novel correlation between a CREX observable and a combination of bulk symmetry energy parameters, we calibrate three new covariant energy density functionals that reproduce binding energies and charge radii of spherical nuclei - and also accommodate the constraints imposed by PREX and CREX. Given that these models suggest a stiff equation of state at high densities, predictions for neutron star properties are also discussed.

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arXiv2022

Numerical relativity simulations of prompt collapse mergers: threshold mass and phenomenological constraints on neutron star properties after GW170817

We determine the threshold mass for prompt (no bounce) black hole formation in equal-mass neutron star (NS) mergers using a new set of 227 numerical relativity simulations. We consider 23 phenomenological and microphysical finite temperature equations of state (EOS), including models with hyperons and first-order phase transitions to deconfined quarks. We confirm the existence of EOS-insensitive relations between the threshold mass, the binary tidal parameter at the threshold ($Λ_{th}$), the maximum mass of nonrotating NSs, and the radii of reference mass NSs. We correct the systematic errors in previously reported fitting coefficients that were obtained with approximate general-relativity simulations. We combine the EOS-insensitive relations, phenomenological constraints on NS properties and observational data from GW170817 to derive an improved lower limit on radii of maximum mass and 1.6 M$_\odot$ NS of 9.81 km and 10.90 km, respectively. We also constrain the radius and quadrupolar tidal deformability ($Λ$) of a 1.4 $M_\odot$ NS to be larger than 10.74 km and 172, respectively. We consider uncertainties in all independent parameters -- fitting coefficients as well as GW170817 masses while reporting the range of radii constraints. We introduce new methods to constrain the upper as well as lower limit of NS maximum mass using future BNS detections and their identification as prompt or delayed collapse. With future observations it will be possible to derive even tighter constraints on the properties of matter at and above nuclear density using the method proposed in this work.

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arXiv2021

Modeling the Galactic Neutron Star Population for Use in Continuous Gravitational Wave Searches

Searches for continuous gravitational waves from \textit{unknown} Galactic neutron stars provide limits on the shapes of neutron stars. A rotating neutron star will produce gravitational waves if asymmetric deformations exist in its structure that are characterized by the star's ellipticity. In this study, we use a simple model of the spatial and spin distribution of Galactic neutron stars to estimate the total number of neutron stars probed, using gravitational waves, to a given upper limit on the ellipticity. This may help optimize future searches with improved sensitivity. The improved sensitivity of third-generation gravitational wave detectors may increase the number of neutron stars probed, to a given ellipticity, by factors of 100 to 1000.

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arXiv2021

Implications of PREX-II on the equation of state of neutron-rich matter

Laboratory experiments sensitive to the equation of state of neutron rich matter in the vicinity of nuclear saturation density provide the first rung in a "density ladder" that connects terrestrial experiments to astronomical observations. In this context, the neutron skin thickness of 208Pb (Rskin) provides a stringent laboratory constraint on the density dependence of the symmetry energy. In turn, an improved value of Rskin has been reported recently by the PREX collaboration. Exploiting the strong correlation between Rskin and the slope of the symmetry energy L within a specific class of relativistic energy density functionals, we report a value of L=(106 +/- 37)MeV -- that systematically overestimates current limits based on both theoretical approaches and experimental measurements. The impact of such a stiff symmetry energy on some critical neutron-star observables is also examined.

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