arXiv subjects

Dean Lee

Publications and source records attributed to Dean Lee.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Lattice methods and the nuclear few- and many-body problem

We begin with a brief overview of lattice calculations using chiral effective field theory and some recent applications. We then describe several methods for computing scattering on the lattice. After that we focus on the main goal, explaining the theory and algorithms relevant to lattice simulations of nuclear few- and many-body systems. We discuss the exact equivalence of four different lattice formalisms, the Grassmann path integral, transfer matrix operator, Grassmann path integral with auxiliary fields, and transfer matrix operator with auxiliary fields. Along with our analysis we include several coding examples and a number of exercises for the calculations of few- and many-body systems at leading order in chiral effective field theory.

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arXiv2016

Nuclear binding near a quantum phase transition

How do protons and neutrons bind to form nuclei? This is the central question of ab initio nuclear structure theory. While the answer may seem as simple as the fact that nuclear forces are attractive, the full story is more complex and interesting. In this work we present numerical evidence from ab initio lattice simulations showing that nature is near a quantum phase transition, a zero-temperature transition driven by quantum fluctuations. Using lattice effective field theory, we perform Monte Carlo simulations for systems with up to twenty nucleons. For even and equal numbers of protons and neutrons, we discover a first-order transition at zero temperature from a Bose-condensed gas of alpha particles (4He nuclei) to a nuclear liquid. Whether one has an alpha-particle gas or nuclear liquid is determined by the strength of the alpha-alpha interactions, and we show that the alpha-alpha interactions depend on the strength and locality of the nucleon-nucleon interactions. This insight should be useful in improving calculations of nuclear structure and important astrophysical reactions involving alpha capture on nuclei. Our findings also provide a tool to probe the structure of alpha cluster states such as the Hoyle state responsible for the production of carbon in red giant stars and point to a connection between nuclear states and the universal physics of bosons at large scattering length.

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arXiv2016

Precise determination of lattice phase shifts and mixing angles

We introduce a general and accurate method for determining lattice phase shifts and mixing angles, which is applicable to arbitrary, non-cubic lattices. Our method combines angular momentum projection, spherical wall boundaries and an adjustable auxiliary potential. This allows us to construct radial lattice wave functions and to determine phase shifts at arbitrary energies. For coupled partial waves, we use a complex-valued auxiliary potential that breaks time-reversal invariance. We benchmark our method using a system of two spin-1/2 particles interacting through a finite-range potential with a strong tensor component. We are able to extract phase shifts and mixing angles for all angular momenta and energies, with precision greater than that of extant methods. We discuss a wide range of applications from nuclear lattice simulations to optical lattice experiments.

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arXiv2016

Nucleon-deuteron scattering using the adiabatic projection method

In this paper we discuss the adiabatic projection method, a general framework for scattering and reaction calculations on the lattice. We also introduce several new techniques developed to study nucleus-nucleus scattering and reactions on the lattice. We present technical details of the method for large-scale problems. To estimate the systematic errors of the calculations we consider simple two-particle scattering on the lattice. Then we benchmark the accuracy and efficiency of the numerical methods by applying these to calculate fermion-dimer scattering in lattice effective field theory with and without a long-range Coulomb potential. The fermion-dimer calculations correspond to neutron-deuteron and proton-deuteron scattering in the spin-quartet channel at leading order in the pionless effective field theory.

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arXiv2015

Scattering cluster wave functions on the lattice using the adiabatic projection method

The adiabatic projection method is a general framework for studying scattering and reactions on the lattice. It provides a low-energy effective theory for clusters which becomes exact in the limit of large Euclidean projection time. Previous studies have used the adiabatic projection method to extract scattering phase shifts from finite periodic-box energy levels using Lüschers method. In this paper we demonstrate that scattering observables can be computed directly from asymptotic cluster wave functions. For a variety of examples in one and three spatial dimensions, we extract elastic phase shifts from asymptotic cluster standing waves corresponding to spherical wall boundary conditions. We find that this approach of extracting scattering wave functions from the adiabatic Hamiltonian to be less sensitive to small stochastic and systematic errors as compared with using periodic-box energy levels.

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arXiv2015

Ab initio lattice results for Fermi polarons in two dimensions

We investigate the attractive Fermi polaron problem in two dimensions using non-perturbative Monte Carlo simulations. We introduce a new Monte Carlo algorithm called the impurity lattice Monte Carlo method. This algorithm samples the path integral in a computationally efficient manner and has only small sign oscillations for systems with a single impurity. As a benchmark of the method, we calculate the universal polaron energy in three dimensions in the scale-invariant unitarity limit and find agreement with published results. We then present the first fully non-perturbative calculations of the polaron energy in two dimensions and density correlations between the impurity and majority particles in the limit of zero range interactions. We find evidence for a smooth crossover transition from fermionic quasiparticle to molecular state as a function of interaction strength.

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arXiv2015

Nuclear Lattice Simulations using Symmetry-Sign Extrapolation

Projection Monte Carlo calculations of lattice Chiral Effective Field Theory suffer from sign oscillations to a varying degree dependent on the number of protons and neutrons. Hence, such studies have hitherto been concentrated on nuclei with equal numbers of protons and neutrons, and especially on the alpha nuclei where the sign oscillations are smallest. Here, we introduce the "symmetry-sign extrapolation" method, which allows us to use the approximate Wigner SU(4) symmetry of the nuclear interaction to systematically extend the Projection Monte Carlo calculations to nuclear systems where the sign problem is severe. We benchmark this method by calculating the ground-state energies of the $^{12}$C, $^6$He and $^6$Be nuclei, and discuss its potential for studies of neutron-rich halo nuclei and asymmetric nuclear matter.

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arXiv2015

Regularization Methods for Nuclear Lattice Effective Field Theory

We investigate Nuclear Lattice Effective Field Theory for the two-body system for several lattice spacings at lowest order in the pionless as well as in the pionful theory. We discuss issues of regularizations and predictions for the effective range expansion. In the pionless case, a simple Gaussian smearing allows to demonstrate lattice spacing independence over a wide range of lattice spacings. We show that regularization methods known from the continuum formulation are necessary as well as feasible for the pionful approach.

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arXiv2015

Ab initio alpha-alpha scattering

Processes involving alpha particles and alpha-like nuclei comprise a major part of stellar nucleosynthesis and hypothesized mechanisms for thermonuclear supernovae. In an effort towards understanding alpha processes from first principles, we describe in this letter the first ab initio calculation of alpha-alpha scattering. We use lattice effective field theory to describe the low-energy interactions of nucleons and apply a technique called the adiabatic projection method to reduce the eight-body system to an effective two-cluster system. We find good agreement between lattice results and experimental phase shifts for S-wave and D-wave scattering. The computational scaling with particle number suggests that alpha processes involving heavier nuclei are also within reach in the near future.

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arXiv2015

Breaking and restoration of rotational symmetry for irreducible tensor operators on the lattice

We study the breaking of rotational symmetry on the lattice for irreducible tensor operators and practical methods for suppressing this breaking. We illustrate the features of the general problem using an $α$ cluster model for $^{8}$Be. We focus on the lowest states with non-zero angular momentum and examine the matrix elements of multipole moment operators. We show that the physical reduced matrix element is well reproduced by averaging over all possible orientations of the quantum state, and this is expressed as a sum of matrix elements weighted by the corresponding Clebsch-Gordan coefficients. For our $α$ cluster model we find that the effects of rotational symmetry breaking can be largely eliminated for lattice spacings of $a\leq 1.7$ fm, and we expect similar improvement for actual lattice Monte Carlo calculations.

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arXiv2014

Fermion-dimer scattering using an impurity lattice Monte Carlo approach and the adiabatic projection method

We present lattice Monte Carlo calculations of fermion-dimer scattering in the limit of zero-range interactions using the adiabatic projection method. The adiabatic projection method uses a set of initial cluster states and Euclidean time projection to give a systematically improvable description of the low-lying scattering cluster states in a finite volume. We use Lüscher's finite-volume relations to determine the s-wave, p-wave, and d-wave phase shifts. For comparison, we also compute exact lattice results using Lanczos iteration and continuum results using the Skorniakov-Ter-Martirosian equation. For our Monte Carlo calculations we use a new lattice algorithm called impurity lattice Monte Carlo. This algorithm can be viewed as a hybrid technique which incorporates elements of both worldline and auxiliary-field Monte Carlo simulations.

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arXiv2014

Uncertainties of Euclidean Time Extrapolation in Lattice Effective Field Theory

Extrapolations in Euclidean time form a central part of Nuclear Lattice Effective Field Theory (NLEFT) calculations using the Projection Monte Carlo method, as the sign problem in many cases prevents simulations at large Euclidean time. We review the next-to-next-to-leading order NLEFT results for the alpha nuclei up to $^{28}$Si, with emphasis on the Euclidean time extrapolations, their expected accuracy and potential pitfalls. We also discuss possible avenues for improving the reliability of Euclidean time extrapolations in NLEFT.

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arXiv2014

Breaking and restoration of rotational symmetry on the lattice for bound state multiplets

We explore the breaking of rotational symmetry on the lattice for bound state energies and practical methods for suppressing this breaking. We demonstrate the general problems associated with lattice discretization errors and finite-volume errors using an $α$ cluster model for $^8$Be and $^{12}$C. We consider the two and three $α$-particle systems and focus on the lowest states with non-zero angular momentum which split into multiplets corresponding to different irreducible representations of the cubic group. We examine the dependence of such splittings on the lattice spacing and box size. We find that lattice spacing errors are closely related to the commensurability of the lattice with the intrinsic length scales of the system. We also show that rotational symmetry breaking effects can be significantly reduced by using improved lattice actions, and that the physical energy levels are accurately reproduced by the weighted average of a given spin multiplets.

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arXiv2014

The Hoyle state in Nuclear Lattice EFT

We review the calculation of the Hoyle state of $^{12}$C in Nuclear Lattice Effective Field Theory (NLEFT) and its anthropic implications for the nucleosynthesis of $^{12}$C and $^{16}$O in red giant stars. We also review the extension of NLEFT to the regime of medium-mass nuclei, with emphasis on the determination of the ground-state energies of the alpha nuclei $^{16}$O, $^{20}$Ne, $^{24}$Mg and $^{28}$Si by means of Euclidean time projection. Finally, we review recent NLEFT results for the spectrum, electromagnetic properties, and alpha-cluster structure of $^{16}$O.

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arXiv2014

Lattice Effective Field Theory for Medium-Mass Nuclei

We extend Nuclear Lattice Effective Field Theory (NLEFT) to medium-mass nuclei, and present results for the ground states of alpha nuclei from $^4$He to $^{28}$Si, calculated up to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in the EFT expansion. This computational advance is made possible by extrapolations of lattice data using multiple initial and final states. For our soft two-nucleon interaction, we find that the overall contribution from multi-nucleon forces must change sign from attractive to repulsive with increasing nucleon number. This effect is not produced by three-nucleon forces at NNLO, but it can be approximated by an effective four-nucleon interaction. We discuss the convergence of the EFT expansion and the broad significance of our findings for future ab initio calculations.

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arXiv2014

Ab initio calculation of the spectrum and structure of $^{16}$O

We present ab initio lattice calculations of the low-energy even-parity states of $^{16}$O using chiral nuclear effective field theory. We find good agreement with the empirical energy spectrum, and with the electromagnetic properties and transition rates. For the ground state, we find that the nucleons are arranged in a tetrahedral configuration of alpha clusters. For the first excited spin-0 state, we find that the predominant structure is a square configuration of alpha clusters, with rotational excitations that include the first spin-2 state.

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arXiv2013

Adiabatic projection method for scattering and reactions on the lattice

We demonstrate and test the adiabatic projection method, a general new framework for calculating scattering and reactions on the lattice. The method is based upon calculating a low-energy effective theory for clusters which becomes exact in the limit of large Euclidean projection time. As a detailed example we calculate the adiabatic two-body Hamiltonian for elastic fermion-dimer scattering in lattice effective field theory. Our calculation corresponds to neutron-deuteron scattering in the spin-quartet channel at leading order in pionless effective field theory. We show that the spectrum of the adiabatic Hamiltonian reproduces the spectrum of the original Hamiltonian below the inelastic threshold to arbitrary accuracy. We also show that the calculated s-wave phase shift reproduces the known exact result in the continuum and infinite-volume limits. When extended to more than one scattering channel, the adiabatic projection method can be used to calculate inelastic reactions on the lattice in future work.

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arXiv2013

Lattice effective field theory for nuclei from A = 4 to A = 28

We present an overview of the extension of Nuclear Lattice Effective Field Theory simulations to the regime of medium-mass nuclei. We focus on the determination of the ground-state energies of the alpha nuclei $^{16}$O, $^{20}$Ne, $^{24}$Mg and $^{28}$Si by means of Euclidean time projection.

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