arXiv subjects

G. Hagen

Publications and source records attributed to G. Hagen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Chiral interactions and superfluidity in the calcium isotopic chain

We perform ab initio calculations of three-point mass differences in the odd- and even-mass $^{39-49}$Ca isotopes to probe nuclear superfluidity via empirical neutron pairing gaps. We also quantify the sensitivity of those gaps to the parameters of the interaction at mean-field level. Recent studies employing accurate chiral nuclear interactions have found these gaps to be too small. We show that experimental values can be reproduced at mean-field level by substantially increasing the attraction of the singlet $S$-wave two-nucleon contact interaction, but doing so induces an unphysical bound state of the di-neutron. The sensitivity of these predictions to the full calibration of the nuclear interaction is then studied by performing Bayesian posterior sampling in a delta-full chiral effective field theory at third chiral order. We find that pairing gaps remain largely unaffected, leaving the explanation of nuclear superfluidity as a future task for improved many-body modeling and refined interactions at higher chiral orders.

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arXiv2025

From closed shells to open shells: Coupled-cluster calculations of atomic nuclei

Coupled-cluster theory is a powerful tool for first-principles calculations of atomic nuclei, enabling accurate predictions of nuclear observables across the Segr\`e chart. While coupled-cluster computations are especially efficient at shell closures, extensions have been developed to tackle open-shell nuclei, by exploiting the equation-of-motion method or by expanding the coupled-cluster wave function on top of a symmetry-breaking (either deformed or superfluid) reference state. In this study, we provide a comprehensive comparison of these different formulations applied to the calcium and nickel isotopes using nuclear two- and three-body interactions from chiral effective field theory. Based on ground-state energies, two-neutron separation energies, and two-neutron shell gaps, different coupled-cluster computations - based on symmetry-broken reference states and equation-of-motion techniques - offer consistent descriptions of bulk properties across medium-mass isotopic chains.

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arXiv2025

The neutron dripline in calcium isotopes from a chiral interaction

Interactions derived from effective field theories of quantum chromodynamics have thus far failed to bind calcium nuclei beyond neutron number $N=40$, while nuclear density functionals typically place the neutron dripline near $^{70}$Ca, at $N=50$. We present the chiral interaction N$^3$LO$_{\rm Texas}$, a combination of two- and three-nucleon potentials at fourth and third chiral order, respectively, with low-energy constants optimized using emulator-accelerated fits to few- and many-body data. This interaction accurately reproduces binding energies and charge radii of key nuclei with mass number $A=3$ to $208$, important excited states, and nuclear matter near saturation. Using ab-initio methods, we find that the calcium two-neutron dripline extends to $^{71}$Ca.

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arXiv2025

NuLattice: Ab initio computations of atomic nuclei on lattices

We introduce NuLattice, a Python software package for ab initio computations of atomic nuclei on lattices. The computational tools consist of Hartree Fock, the coupled cluster method, the in-medium similarity renormalization group, and full configuration interaction. At present, the employed interactions are from pion-less effective field theory at leading order and consist of two-body and three-body contacts. We present results for light nuclei $^{2}$H, $^{3,4}$He, $^{8}$Be, $^{12}$C, and $^{16}$O. NuLattice algorithms exploit the sparsity and locality of lattice interactions, and as a result computations can be run on laptops.

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arXiv2025

A nuclear mass model rooted in chiral effective field theory

We develop a nuclear mass model that is based on chiral effective field theory at next-to-next-to leading order. Nuclear binding energies are computed via the Hartree-Fock method using a Hamiltonian from delta-full chiral effective field theory. We employ Hartree-Fock emulators to adjust $11$ low-energy constants in the chiral interaction to binding energies of $18$ even-even nuclei. When applied to $107$ even-even nuclei with mass numbers $16\leq A\leq 56$ the chiral mass model exhibits an overall root-mean-square deviation of $3.5$ MeV.

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arXiv2024

Structure of odd-mass Ne, Na, and Mg nuclei

The island of inversion is a region of neutron-rich nuclei that are deformed in their ground states. In this region, less is known about the energy levels of odd-mass nuclei, how they evolve with increasing neutron numbers, and how they can be organized into rotational bands. We perform {\it ab initio} coupled-cluster calculations of spectra in odd-mass Ne, Na, and Mg nuclei based on an interaction of chiral effective field theory. Our results confirm some tentative spin and parity assignments, predict the structure of nuclei near the neutron dripline, and inform us about rotational bands in this region of the nuclear table.

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arXiv2024

Ab initio computations from $^{78}$Ni towards $^{70}$Ca along neutron number $N=50$

We present coupled-cluster computations of nuclei with neutron number $N=50$ "south" of $^{78}$Ni using nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon forces from chiral effective field theory. We find an erosion of the magic number $N=50$ toward $^{70}$Ca manifesting itself by an onset of deformation and increased complexity in the ground states. For $^{78}$Ni, we predict a low-lying rotational band consistent with recent data, which up until now has been a challenge for ab initio nuclear models. Ground states are deformed in $^{76}$Fe, $^{74}$Cr, and $^{72}$Ti, although the spherical states are too close in energy to unambiguously identify the shape of the ground state within the uncertainty estimates. In $^{70}$Ca, the potential energy landscape from quadrupole-constrained Hartree-Fock computations flattens, and the deformation becomes less rigid. We also compute the low-lying spectra and $B({\rm E2})$ values for these neutron-rich $N=50$ nuclei.

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arXiv2024

Emulating \emph{ab initio} computations of infinite nucleonic matter

We construct efficient emulators for the \emph{ab initio} computation of the infinite nuclear matter equation of state. These emulators are based on the subspace-projected coupled-cluster method for which we here develop a new algorithm called small-batch voting to eliminate spurious states that might appear when emulating quantum many-body methods based on a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. The efficiency and accuracy of these emulators facilitate a rigorous statistical analysis within which we explore nuclear matter predictions for $> 10^6$ different parametrizations of a chiral interaction model with explicit $Δ$-isobars at next-to-next-to leading order. Constrained by nucleon-nucleon scattering phase shifts and bound-state observables of light nuclei up to \nuc{4}{He}, we use history matching to identify non-implausible domains for the low-energy coupling constants of the chiral interaction. Within these domains we perform a Bayesian analysis using sampling/importance resampling with different likelihood calibrations and study correlations between interaction parameters, calibration observables in light nuclei, and nuclear matter saturation properties.

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arXiv2024

Nuclear-matter saturation and symmetry energy within $Δ$--full chiral effective field theory

Nuclear saturation and the symmetry energy are key properties of low-energy nuclear physics that depend on fine details of the nuclear interaction. The equation-of-state around saturation is also an important anchor for extrapolations to higher densities and studies of neutron stars. Here we develop a unified statistical framework that uses realistic nuclear forces to link the theoretical modeling of finite nuclei and infinite nuclear matter. We construct fast and accurate emulators for nuclear-matter observables and employ an iterative history-matching approach to explore and reduce the enormous parameter domain of $Δ$-full chiral interactions. We perform rigorous uncertainty quantification and find that model calibration including \nuc{16}{O} observables gives saturation predictions that are more precise than those that only use few-body data.

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arXiv2024

Magnetic dipole transition in $^{48}$Ca

The magnetic dipole transition strength $B(M1)$ of $^{48}$Ca is dominated by a single resonant state at an excitation energy of 10.23 MeV. Experiments disagree about $B(M1)$ and this impacts our understanding of spin flips in nuclei. We performed ab initio computations based on chiral effective field theory and found that $B(M1:0^+\rightarrow1^+)$ lies in the range from $7.0$ to $10.2~μ_N^2$. This is consistent with a $(γ,n)$ experiment but larger than results from $(e,e^\prime)$ and $(p,p')$ scattering. Two-body currents yield no quenching of the $B(M1)$ strength and continuum effects reduce it by about 10%. For a validation of our approach, we computed magnetic moments in $^{47,49}$Ca and performed benchmark calculations in light nuclei.

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arXiv2024

Ab initio computations of strongly deformed nuclei around $^{80}$Zr

Nuclei around $N\approx Z\approx 40$ are strongly deformed and exhibit coexistence of shapes. These phenomena have challenged nuclear models. Here we perform ab initio coupled-cluster computations of low-lying collective states and electromagnetic quadrupole transitions of the even-even nuclei $^{72}$Kr, $^{76,78}$Sr, $^{78,80}$Zr and $^{84}$Mo starting from chiral nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon forces. Our calculations reproduce the coexistence of oblate and prolate shapes in these nuclei, yield rotational bands and strong electromagnetic transitions, but are not accurate for some observables and nuclei. These results highlight the advances and challenges of ab initio computations of heavy deformed nuclei.

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arXiv2024

Multiscale physics of atomic nuclei from first principles

Atomic nuclei exhibit multiple energy scales ranging from hundreds of MeV in binding energies to fractions of an MeV for low-lying collective excitations. As the limits of nuclear binding is approached near the neutron- and proton driplines, traditional shell-structure starts to melt with an onset of deformation and an emergence of coexisting shapes. It is a long-standing challenge to describe this multiscale physics starting from nuclear forces with roots in quantum chromodynamics. Here we achieve this within a unified and non-perturbative framework that captures both short- and long-range correlations starting from modern nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon forces from chiral effective field theory. The short-range correlations which accounts for the bulk of the binding energy is included within a symmetry-breaking framework, while long-range correlations (and fine details about the collective structure) are included via symmetry projection. Our calculations accurately reproduce available experimental data for low-lying collective states and the electromagnetic quadrupole transitions in $^{20-30}$Ne. We also reveal coexisting spherical and deformed shapes in $^{30}$Ne, which indicates the breakdown of the magic neutron number $N=20$ as the key nucleus $^{28}$O is approached, and we predict that the dripline nuclei $^{32,34}$Ne are strongly deformed. By developing reduced-order-models for symmetry-projected states, we perform a global sensitivity analysis and find that the subleading singlet S-wave contact and a pion-nucleon coupling strongly impact nuclear deformation in chiral effective-field-theory. The techniques developed in this work clarify how microscopic nuclear forces generate the multiscale physics of nuclei spanning collective phenomena as well as short-range correlations and allow to capture emergent and dynamical phenomena in finite fermion systems.

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arXiv2023

The importance of few-nucleon forces in chiral effective field theory

We study the importance of few-nucleon forces in chiral effective field theory for describing many-nucleon systems. A combinatorial argument suggests that three-nucleon forces -- which are conventionally regarded as next-to-next-to-leading order -- should accompany the two-nucleon force already at leading order (LO) starting with mass number $A\approx 10-20$. We find that this promotion enables the first realistic description of the $^{16}$O ground state based on a renormalization-group-invariant LO interaction. We also performed coupled-cluster calculations of the equation of state for symmetric nuclear matter and our results indicate that LO four-nucleon forces could play a crucial role for describing heavy-mass nuclei. The enhancement mechanism we found is very general and could be important also in other many-body problems.

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arXiv2023

Level Structures of $^{56,58}$Ca Cast Doubt on a doubly magic $^{60}$Ca

Gamma decays were observed in $^{56}$Ca and $^{58}$Ca following quasi-free one-proton knockout reactions from $^{57,59}$Sc beams at $\approx 200$ MeV/nucleon. For $^{56}$Ca, a $γ$ ray transition was measured to be 1456(12) keV, while for $^{58}$Ca an indication for a transition was observed at 1115(34) keV. Both transitions were tentatively assigned as the $2^+_1 \rightarrow 0^+_{gs}$ decays, and were compared to results from ab initio and conventional shell-model approaches. A shell-model calculation in a wide model space with a marginally modified effective nucleon-nucleon interaction depicts excellent agreement with experiment for $2^+_1$ level energies, two-neutron separation energies, and reaction cross sections, corroborating the formation of a new nuclear shell above the $N$ = 34 shell. Its constituents, the $0f_{5/2}$ and $0g_{9/2}$ orbitals, are almost degenerate. This degeneracy precludes the possibility for a doubly magic $^{60}$Ca and potentially drives the dripline of Ca isotopes to $^{70}$Ca or even beyond.

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arXiv2023

Coupled-cluster theory for strong entanglement in nuclei

Atomic nuclei can exhibit shape coexistence and multi-reference physics that enters in their ground states, and to accurately capture the ensuing correlations and entanglement is challenging. We address this problem by applying single-reference coupled-cluster theory based on spherical and deformed reference states and the tailored coupled-cluster method. The latter combines configuration interaction to capture static correlations with coupled-cluster theory for dynamic correlations. We compute the atomic nuclei $^{12}$C, $^{28}$Si, and $^{56}$Ni and find that the tailored coupled-cluster method and the single-reference approach based on a deformed Hartree-Fock state yield the most accurate results.

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arXiv2023

How chiral forces shape neutron-rich Ne and Mg nuclei

We compute the structure of the exotic even nuclei $^{20-34}$Ne and $^{34-40}$Mg using interactions from chiral effective field theory (EFT). Our results for the ground-state rotational bands in $^{20-32}$Ne and $^{36-40}$Mg agree with data. We predict a well-deformed $^{34}$Ne and find that $^{40}$Mg exhibits an oblate deformed band close to the prolate ground-state, indicating the emergence of shape co-existence at the neutron dripline. A global sensitivity analysis shows that the subleading singlet $S$-wave contact and a pion-nucleon coupling strongly impact deformation in chiral EFT.

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arXiv2023

Electric dipole polarizability of $^{40}$Ca

The electric dipole strength distribution in $^{40}$Ca between 5 and 25 MeV has been determined at RCNP, Osaka, from proton inelastic scattering experiments at very forward angles. Combined with total photoabsorption data at higher excitation energy, this enables an extraction of the electric dipole polarizability $α_\mathrm{D}$($^{40}$Ca) = 1.92(17) fm$^3$. Together with the measured $α_{\rm D}$ in $^{48}$Ca, it provides a stringent test of modern theoretical approaches, including coupled cluster calculations with chiral effective field theory interactions and state-of-the art energy density functionals. The emerging picture is that for this medium-mass region dipole polarizabilities are well described theoretically, with important constraints for the neutron skin in $^{48}$Ca and related equation of state quantities.

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arXiv2023

Entanglement entropy of nuclear systems

We study entanglement entropies between the single-particle states of the hole space and its complement in nuclear systems. Analytical results based on the coupled-cluster method show that entanglement entropies are proportional to the particle number fluctuation and the depletion number of the hole space for sufficiently weak interactions. General arguments also suggest that the entanglement entropy in nuclear systems fulfills a volume instead of an area law. We test and confirm these results by computing entanglement entropies of the pairing model and neutron matter, and the depletion number of finite nuclei.

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