arXiv subjects

G. Blanchon

Publications and source records attributed to G. Blanchon.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Impact of finite-range spin-orbit and tensor terms in Gogny EDF

Energy Density Functionals are of major interest for the study of the atomic nucleus as, coupled with mean-field and beyond N-body approaches, they are applicable to the whole nuclear chart, including superheavy elements. On the one hand, the growing need for nuclear data and, on the other hand, the large amount of experimental data on exotic nuclei explain the work carried out on these phenomenological forms of the nucleon-nucleon interaction to analyze the richness of the nuclear phenomena. In this paper, we propose a fully finite-range extension of the Gogny EDF, including a short-range spin-orbit term and a long-range tensor term. The original fitting protocol of the Gogny interaction has been adapted to include both finite range spin-orbit and tensor terms, adding new constraints and filters linked to relevant data. Nuclear matter, spectroscopic and fission properties are discussed, highlighting ways of improving EDFs when all spin and isospin exchanges are introduced with finite-range terms.

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arXiv2024

Universal separable structure of the optical potential

Based on a momentum-space in-medium folding model, we disclose the universal separability of the optical potential, revealing its radial and nonlocality features at beam energies in the range 40 - 400 MeV and target mass numbers in the range $40\le A\le 208$. From this microscopic study we find that the nonlocality form factor is inherently complex and of hydrogenic nature, affecting both central and spin-orbit components of the potential. A striking outcome from this study is the consistent appearance of a nodal point in the imaginary radial form factor, notably suppressing surface absorption peaks, in evident contrast with Woods-Saxon's assumption of an absorptive peak at the nuclear surface. Our analysis reveals that the complex radial form factor can effectively be represented as convolutions of uniform spherical distribution with a Gaussian form factor and a Yukawa term. These robust microscopically-driven findings offer new ways for investigating nuclear reactions beyond the restricting Woods-Saxon and Perey-Buck assumptions.

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arXiv2024

Neutron scattering off spherical nuclei with global nonlocal dispersive optical model

We present a global nonlocal and dispersive optical model potential for neutron scattering off spherical nuclei with incident energies up to 250 MeV. This optical model is an extension of the non-dispersive Perey-Buck potential. The imaginary components are chosen energy-dependent and the dispersive constraints are taken into account. The surface imaginary part is nonlocal, whereas the volume imaginary part above 10 MeV is local, allowing to reproduce total cross sections and scattering data for high energies. We obtain a good description of scattering observables for target-nuclei ranging from $A=16$, up to $209$. The inclusion of nonlocal spin-orbit term enables a better description of the analyzing power data relative to the local dispersive model.

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arXiv2024

Microscopic bell-shape nonlocality: the case of proton scattering off $^{40}$Ca at 200 MeV

This work is part of an ongoing effort to build microscopically-driven nonlocal optical potentials easily tracktable in scattering codes. Based on the separable `$JvH$' structure proposed recently \cite{arellano_22}, where the potential can be cast as the product of a radial and nonlocality form factors, we investigate its angular dependence in momentum space. We find that scattering observables have a weak angular dependence between the momentum transfer {$\bm q=\bm k-\bm k'$}, and {$\bm K=(\bm k+\bm k')/2$}. The study is focussed on proton elastic scattering off $^{40}$Ca at 200 MeV, where the $JvH$ structure is found to be inadequate. We conclude that any improvement of the $JvH$ structure of the potential can be made to the lowest order in multipole expansions in $Kq-$representation of the potential.

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arXiv2023

Optical potentials for the rare-isotope beam era

We review recent progress and motivate the need for further developments in nuclear optical potentials that are widely used in the theoretical analysis of nucleon elastic scattering and reaction cross sections. In regions of the nuclear chart away from stability, which represent a frontier in nuclear science over the coming decade and which will be probed at new rare-isotope beam facilities worldwide, there is a targeted need to quantify and reduce theoretical reaction model uncertainties, especially with respect to nuclear optical potentials. We first describe the primary physics motivations for an improved description of nuclear reactions involving short-lived isotopes, focusing on its benefits for fundamental science discoveries and applications to medicine, energy, and security. We then outline the various methods in use today to build optical potentials starting from phenomenological, microscopic, and ab initio methods, highlighting in particular the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. We then discuss publicly-available tools and resources facilitating the propagation of recent progresses in the field to practitioners. Finally, we provide a set of open challenges and recommendations for the field to advance the fundamental science goals of nuclear reaction studies in the rare-isotope beam era.

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arXiv2022

Quasi-free (p,2p) reactions in inverse kinematics for studying the fission yield dependence on temperature

Despite the recent experimental and theoretical progress in the investigation of the nuclear fission process, a complete description still represents a challenge in nuclear physics because it is a very complex dynamical process, whose description involves the coupling between intrinsic and collective degrees of freedom, as well as different quantum-mechanical phenomena. To improve on the existing data on nuclear fission, we produce fission reactions of heavy nuclei in inverse kinematics by using quasi-free (p,2p) scattering, which induce fission through particle-hole excitations that can range from few to ten's of MeV. The measurement of the four-momenta of the two outgoing protons allows to reconstruct the excitation energy of the fissioning compound nucleus and therefore to study the evolution of the fission yields with temperature. The realization of this kind of experiment requires a complex experimental setup, providing full isotopic identification of both fission fragments and an accurate measurement of the momenta of the two outgoing protons. This was realized recently at the GSI/FAIR facility and here some preliminary results are presented.

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arXiv2022

Comprehensive investigation of fission yields by using spallation- and (p,2p)-induced fission reactions in inverse kinematics

In the last decades, measurements of spallation, fragmentation and Coulex induced fission reactions in inverse kinematics have provided valuable data to accurately investigate the fission dynamics and nuclear structure at large deformations of a large variety of stable and non-stable heavy nuclei. To go a step further, we propose now to induce fission by the use of quasi-free (p,2p) scattering reactions in inverse kinematics, which allows us to reconstruct the excitation energy of the compound fissioning system by using the four-momenta of the two outgoing protons. Therefore, this new approach might permit to correlate the excitation energy with the charge and mass distributions of the fission fragments and with the fission probabilities, given for the first time direct access to the simultaneous measurement of the fission yield dependence on temperature and fission barrier heights of exotic heavy nuclei, respectively. The first experiment based on this methodology was realized recently at the GSI/FAIR facility and a detailed description of the experimental setup is given here.

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arXiv2022

On the separability of microscopic optical model potentials and emerging bell-shape Perey-Buck nonlocality

After nearly sixty years since its introduction, the phenomenological bell-shape Perey-Buck spatial nonlocality in the optical model potential for nucleon-nucleus scattering has remained unaccounted for from a microscopic standpoint. In this article we provide a quantitative account for such nonlocality considering fully nonlocal optical potentials in momentum space. The framework is based on a momentum-space in-medium folding model, where infinite nuclear matter $g$ matrices in Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approximation are folded to the target one-body mixed density. The study is based on chiral next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N3LO) as well as Argonne $v_{18}$ nucleon-nucleon bare interaction models. Applications focus on $^{40}$Ca($p,p$) scattering at beam energies in the range 11-200 MeV, resulting in the identification of a separable structure of the momentum-space optical potential of a form we coin as $JvH$, with a nonlocality form factor as one of its terms. The resulting nonlocaliy form factor features a bell-shape with nonlocality range $β$ between 0.86 and 0.89 fm, for both proton and neutron beams at energies below 65 MeV. An analytic toy model is introduced to elucidate the underlying mechanism for the nonlocality in the optical model, providing an estimate of its range based on the Fermi motion of the target nucleons and the long-range part of the $NN$ interaction.

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arXiv2021

Ultraviolet suppression and nonlocality in optical model potentials for nucleon-nucleus scattering

We investigate the role of high momentum components of optical model potentials for nucleon-nucleus scattering and its incidence on their nonlocal structure in coordinate space. The study covers closed-shell nuclei with mass number in the range $4\leq A\leq 208$, for nucleon energies from tens of MeV up to 1 GeV. To this purpose microscopic optical potentials are calculated using density-dependent off-shell $g$ matrices in Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approximation and based on Argonne $v_{18}$ as well as chiral 2$N$ force up to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order. We confirm that the gradual suppression of high-momentum contributions of the optical potential results in quite different coordinate-space counterparts, all of them accounting for the same scattering observables. We infer a minimum cutoff momentum $Q$, function of the target mass number and energy of the process, that filters out irrelevant ultraviolet components of the potential. We find that when ultraviolet suppression is applied to Perey-Buck nonlocal potential or local Woods-Saxon potentials, they also result nonlocal with similar appearance to those obtained from microscopic models in momentum space. We examine the transversal nonlocality, quantity that makes comparable the intrinsic nonlocality of any potential regardless of its representation. We conclude that meaningful comparisons of nonlocal features of alternative potentials require the suppression of their ultraviolet components.

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arXiv2020

SWANLOP : Scattering waves off nonlocal optical potentials in the presence of Coulomb interactions

We introduce the package SWANLOP to calculate scattering waves and corresponding observables for nucleon elastic collisions off spin-zero nuclei. The code is capable of handling local and nonlocal optical potentials superposed to long-range Coulomb interaction. Solutions to the implied Schrödinger integro-differential equation are obtained by solving an integral equation of Lippmann-Schwinger type for the scattering wavefunctions, $ψ=ϕ_{C} + {G}_{C} {U}_{S}ψ$, providing and exact treatment to the Coulomb force [Phys. Lett. B 789, 256 (2019)]. The package has been developed to handle potentials either in momentum or coordinate representations, providing flexible options under each of them. The code is fully self-contained, being dimensioned to handle any $A\!\geq\!4$ target for nucleon beam energies of up to 1.1 GeV. Accuracy and benchmark applications are presented and discussed.

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arXiv2019

Exact scattering waves off nonlocal potentials under Coulomb interaction within Schrödinger's integro-differential equation

An exact solution for the scattering wavefunction from a nonlocal potential in the presence of Coulomb interaction is presented. The approach is based on the construction of a Coulomb Green's function in coordinate space whose associated kernel involves any nonlocal optical potential superposed to the Coulomb-screened interaction. The scattering wavefunction, exact solution of the integro-differential Schrödinger's equation, poses no restrictions on the type of nonlocality of the interaction nor on the beam energy.

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arXiv2018

Irreducible nonlocality of optical model potentials based on realistic NN interactions

We investigate the nonlocal structure of optical model potentials for nucleon-nucleus scattering based on microscopic approaches. To this purpose, \emph{in-medium} folding optical potentials are calculated in momentum space and their corresponding coordinate-space counterpart are examined, paying special attention to their nonlocal shape. The nucleon-nucleon effective interaction consists of the actual full off-shell $g$ matrix in Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approximation. The nonlocality of effective interactions is preserved throughout all stages in the the calculation. Argonne $v_{18}$ bare potential and chiral next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order bare interaction are used as starting point. The study is focused on proton elastic scattering off $^{40}$Ca at beam energies between 30 and 800 MeV. We find that the gradual suppression of high-momentum contributions of the optical potential results in quite different-looking coordinate-space counterparts. Despite this non-uniqueness in their nonlocal structure, the implied scattering observables remain unchanged for momentum cutoff above a critical one, which depends on incident energy of the projectile. We find that coordinate-space potentials with momentum cutoffs at the critical value yield the least structured nonlocal behavior. Implications of these findings are discussed.

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arXiv2016

Asymmetry dependence of Gogny based optical potential

An analysis of neutron and proton scattering off $^{40,48}$Ca has been carried out. Real and imaginary potentials have been generated using the Nuclear Structure Method (NSM) for scattering with the Gogny D1S nucleon-nucleon effective interaction. Observables are well described by NSM for neutron and proton elastic scattering off $^{40}$Ca and for neutron scattering off $^{48}$Ca. For proton scattering off $^{48}$Ca, NSM yields a lack of absorption. This discrepancy is attributed to double-charge-exchange contribution and coupling to Gamow- Teller mode which are not included in the present version of NSM. A recipe based on a Perey-Buck fit of NSM imaginary potential and Lane model is proposed to overcome this issue in an approximate way.

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arXiv2015

Prospective study on microscopic potential with Gogny interaction

We present our current studies and our future plans on microscopic potential based on effective nucleon-nucleon interaction and many-body theory. This framework treats in an unified way nuclear structure and reaction. It offers the opportunity to link the underlying effective interaction to nucleon scattering observables. The more consistently connected to a variety of reaction and structure experimental data the framework will be, the more constrained effective interaction will be. As a proof of concept, we present some recent results for both neutron and proton scattered from spherical target nucleus, namely 40 Ca, using the Gogny D1S interaction. Possible fruitful crosstalks between microscopic potential, phenomenological potential and effective interaction are exposed. We then draw some prospective plans for the forthcoming years including scattering from spherical nuclei experiencing pairing correlations, scattering from axially deformed nuclei, and new effective interaction with reaction constraints.

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arXiv2014

Microscopic positive-energy potential based on Gogny interaction

We present nucleon elastic scattering calculation based on Green's function formalism in the Random-Phase Approximation. For the first time, the Gogny effective interaction is used consistently throughout the whole calculation to account for the complex, non-local and energy-dependent optical potential. Effects of intermediate single-particle resonances are included and found to play a crucial role in the account for measured reaction cross section. Double counting of the particle-hole second-order contribution is carefully addressed. The resulting integro-differential Schrödinger equation for the scattering process is solved without localization procedures. The method is applied to neutron and proton elastic scattering from $^{40}$Ca. A successful account for differential and integral cross sections, including analyzing powers, is obtained for incident energies up to 30 MeV. Discrepancies at higher energies are related to much too high volume integral of the real potential for large partial waves. Moreover, this works opens the way for future effective interactions suitable simultaneously for both nuclear structure and reaction.

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arXiv2007

All orders proton breakup from exotic nuclei

We present a semiclassical method to treat the proton breakup from a weakly bound state in an exotic nucleus. The Coulomb interactions between the proton, core and target are treated to all orders and including the full multipole expansion of the Coulomb potential. The nuclear proton-target interaction is also treated to all orders. The core-target interaction is included as an absorption. The method is semi-analytical thus allowing for a detailed understanding of the short range and long range effects of the interactions in the reaction dynamics. It explains also the origin of possible asymmetries in the core parallel momentum distributions when the full multipole expansion of the Coulomb potential is used. Calculations are compared to results of other, fully numerical, methods and to experimental data in order to establish the accuracy and reliability of the method.

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arXiv2007

$^{10}$Li spectrum from $^{11}$Li fragmentation

A recently developed time dependent model for the excitation of a nucleon from a bound state to a continuum resonant state in the system n+core is applied to the study of the population of the low energy continuum of the unbound $^{10}$Li system obtained from $^{11}$Li fragmentation. Comparison of the model results to new data from the GSI laboratory suggests that the reaction mechanism is dominated by final state effects rather than by the sudden process, but for the population of the l=0 virtual state, in which case the two mechanisms give almost identical results. There is also, for the first time, a clear evidence for the population of a d$_{5/2}$ resonance in $^{10}$Li.

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arXiv2006

Unbound exotic nuclei studied by projectile fragmentation

We present a simple time dependent model for the excitation of a nucleon from a bound state to a continuum resonant state in a neutron-core complex potential which acts as a final state interaction. The final state is described by an optical model S-matrix so that both resonant and non resonant states of any continuum energy can be studied as well as deeply bound initial states. It is shown that, due to the coupling between the initial and final states, the neutron-core free particle phase shifts are modified, in the exit channel, by an additional phase. The effect of the additional phase on the breakup spectra is clarified. As an example the population of the low energy resonances of $^{11}$Be and of the unbound $^{13}$Be is discussed. Finally, we suggest that the excitation energy spectra of an unbound nucleus might reflect the structure of the parent nucleus from whose fragmentation they are obtained.

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