arXiv subjects

P. Alberto

Publications and source records attributed to P. Alberto.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A generalized harmonic oscillator problem for a spin-1/2 fermion

The exact bound-state wavefunctions and the corresponding energy equation are calculated for a new generalized harmonic oscillator problem describing a spin-1/2 fermion in 3+1-dimensions, involving scalar, vector, and tensor couplings acting simultaneously within a particular plane of motion. For the scalar and vector coupling, singular harmonic oscillator shapes are considered, such that the singular term is needed to allow analytical solutions for the wavefunctions while preserving binding under adequate conditions. For the tensor sector,the Dirac oscillator potential is employed, which adds another independent binding mechanism to the problem. The exact bound-state solutions are computed by specifically tuning coefficients for an appropriate pair of \textit{Ans\"atze} for the radial functions, which leads to wavefunctions in terms of generalized Laguerre polynomials. Although the energy equation cannot provide a general expression for the energy spectrum, specific constraints on the quantum numbers as simple functions of the external potential parameters can be derived for it, which determines the conditions for bound solutions to exist, and of what type: particle, antiparticle or both. It is shown that the results can be simply mapped to the spherically symmetric analogue problem, and this is used to show that the general result encompass several previous particular cases of spherically symmetric harmonic oscillator problems in the Dirac equation available in the literature.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

A generalized Coulomb problem for a spin-1/2 fermion

We study the Dirac equation in 3+1 dimensions with a general combination of scalar, vector and tensor interactions with arbitrary strengths, all of them described by central Coulomb potentials acting on a particular plane of motion. For the tensor coupling a constant term is also included, since this gives rise to an effective Coulomb potential, which is necessary for the formation of bound states in a pure tensor coupling configuration. The exact bound-state solutions for this generalized Coulomb problem are computed by exploiting the freedom in choosing the coefficients of the \textit{Ans\"atze} for the radial functions, which leads to wave functions in terms of generalized Laguerre polynomials. From the quantization condition, the exact energy spectrum is also determined and its dependence on the parameters of the potentials is discussed. We show that similar features of the equations for the problem in the plane and the spherically symmetric problem allow a simple and direct mapping between them, thereby providing the solution to the spherical Coulomb problem. Our results are validated by showing that the solutions correctly encompass several previous solutions available in the literature for particular cases of this problem, for which we further develop the analysis of the parameters. We also derive two new particular cases not yet reported in the literature: the case of breaking of spin and pseudospin symmetries by the addition of a Coulomb plus constant tensor potential and the problem of a scalar plus tensor Coulomb potentials.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Square Kilometre Array Science Data Challenge 3a: foreground removal for an EoR experiment

We present and analyse the results of the Science data challenge 3a (SDC3a, https://sdc3.skao.int/challenges/foregrounds), an EoR foreground-removal community-wide exercise organised by the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO). The challenge ran for 8 months, from March to October 2023. Participants were provided with realistic simulations of SKA-Low data between 106 MHz and 196 MHz, including foreground contamination from extragalactic as well as Galactic emission, instrumental and systematic effects. They were asked to deliver cylindrical power spectra of the EoR signal, cleaned from all corruptions, and the corresponding confidence levels. Here we describe the approaches taken by the 17 teams that completed the challenge, and we assess their performance using different metrics. The challenge results provide a positive outlook on the capabilities of current foreground-mitigation approaches to recover the faint EoR signal from SKA-Low observations. The median error committed in the EoR power spectrum recovery is below the true signal for seven teams, although in some cases there are some significant outliers. The smallest residual overall is $4.2_{-4.2}^{+20} \times 10^{-4}\,\rm{K}^2h^{-3}$cMpc$^{3}$ across all considered scales and frequencies. The estimation of confidence levels provided by the teams is overall less accurate, with the true error being typically under-estimated, sometimes very significantly. The most accurate error bars account for $60 \pm 20$\% of the true errors committed. The challenge results provide a means for all teams to understand and improve their performance. This challenge indicates that the comparison between independent pipelines could be a powerful tool to assess residual biases and improve error estimation.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2024

Symmetry generators and quantum numbers for fermionic circularly symmetric motion

The planar dynamics of spin-1/2 quantum relativistic particles is important for several physical systems. In this paper we derive, by a simple method, the generators for the continuous symmetries of the 3+1 Dirac equation for planar motion, when there is circular symmetry, i.e., the interactions depend only on the radial coordinate. We consider a general set of potentials with different Lorentz structures. These generators allow for several minimal complete sets of commuting observables and their corresponding quantum numbers. We show how they can be used to label the general eigenspinors for this problem. We also derive the generators of the spin and pseudospin symmetries for this planar Dirac problem, which arise when the vector and scalar potentials have the same magnitude and tensor potential and the space components of the four-vector potential are absent. We investigate the associated energy degeneracies and compare them to the known degeneracies in the spherically symmetric 3+1 Dirac equation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Pure Coulomb tensor interaction in the Dirac equation

In this work we compute bound solutions for particles and anti-particles of the Dirac equation for a pure tensor radial Coulomb potential plus a constant. We find that the binding depends on the sign the tensor constant potential, and allows only bound solutions for a certain sign and magnitude of the $\kappa$ quantum number, which is related to the spin-orbit coupling in the Dirac equation. This relation is reversed for anti-particle solutions. On the other hand, the Coulomb tensor potential, although not biding, changes the range of $\kappa$ values for which there are bound solutions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Temperature effects on nuclear pseudospin symmetry in the Dirac-Hartree-Bogoliubov formalism

We present finite temperature Dirac-Hartree-Bogoliubov (FTDHB) calculations for the tin isotope chain to study the dependence of pseudospin on the nuclear temperature. In the FTDHB calculation, the density dependence of the self-consistent relativistic mean fields, the pairing, and the vapor phase that takes into account the unbound nucleon states are considered self-consistently. The mean field potentials obtained in the FTDHB calculations are fit by Woods-Saxon (WS) potentials to examine how the WS parameters are related to the energy splitting of the pseudospin pairs as the temperature increases. We find that the nuclear potential surface diffuseness is the main driver for the pseudospin splittings and that it increases as the temperature grows. We conclude that pseudospin symmetry is better realized when the nuclear temperature increases. The results confirm the findings of previous works using RMF theory at $T=0$, namely that the correlation between the pseudospin splitting and the parameters of the Woods-Saxon potentials implies that pseudospin symmetry is a dynamical symmetry in nuclei. We show that the dynamical nature of the pseudospin symmetry remains when the temperature is considered in a realistic calculation of the tin isotopes, such as that of the Dirac-Hartree-Bogoliubov formalism.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2017

Generalizing spin and pseudospin symmetries for relativistic spin 1/2 fermions

We propose a generalization of pseudospin and spin symmetries, the SU(2) symmetries of Dirac equation with scalar and vector mean-field potentials originally found independently in the 70's by Smith and Tassie, and Bell and Ruegg. As relativistic symmetries, they have been extensively researched and applied to several physical systems for the last 18 years. The main feature of these symmetries is the suppression of the spin-orbit coupling either in the upper or lower components of the Dirac spinor, thereby turning the respective second-order equations into Schr\"odinger-like equations, i.e, without a matrix structure. In this paper we use the original formalism of Bell and Ruegg to derive general requirements for the Lorentz structures of potentials in order to have these SU(2) symmetries in the Dirac equation, again allowing for the suppression of the matrix structure of the second-order equation of either the upper or lower components of the Dirac spinor. Furthermore, we derive equivalent conditions for spin and pseudospin symmetries with 2- and 1-dimensional potentials and list some possible candidates for 3, 2, and 1 dimensions. We suggest applications for physical systems in three and two dimensions, namely electrons in graphene.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Solutions of the three-dimensional radial Dirac equation from the Schr\"odinger equation with one-dimensional Morse potential

New exact analytical bound-state solutions of the radial Dirac equation in 3+1 dimensions for two sets of couplings and radial potential functions are obtained via mapping onto the nonrelativistic bound-state solutions of the one-dimensional generalized Morse potential. The eigenfunctions are expressed in terms of generalized Laguerre polynomials, and the eigenenergies are expressed in terms of solutions of equations that can be transformed into polynomial equations. Several analytical results found in the literature, including the Dirac oscillator, are obtained as particular cases of this unified approach.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

New solutions of the D-dimensional Klein-Gordon equation via mapping onto the nonrelativistic one-dimensional Morse potential

New exact analytical bound-state solutions of the D-dimensional Klein-Gordon equation for a large set of couplings and potential functions are obtained via mapping onto the nonrelativistic bound-state solutions of the one-dimensional generalized Morse potential. The eigenfunctions are expressed in terms of generalized Laguerre polynomials, and the eigenenergies are expressed in terms of solutions of irrational equations at the worst. Several analytical results found in the literature, including the so-called Klein-Gordon oscillator, are obtained as particular cases of this unified approach

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

General spin and pseudospin symmetries of the Dirac equation

In the 70's Smith and Tassie, and Bell and Ruegg independently found SU(2) symmetries of the Dirac equation with scalar and vector potentials. These symmetries, known as pseudospin and spin symmetries, have been extensively researched and applied to several physical systems. Twenty years after, in 1997, the pseudospin symmetry has been revealed by Ginocchio as a relativistic symmetry of the atomic nuclei when it is described by relativistic mean field hadronic models. The main feature of these symmetries is the suppression of the spin-orbit coupling either in the upper or lower components of the Dirac spinor, thereby turning the respective second-order equations into Schr\"odinger-like equations, i.e, without a matrix structure. In this paper we propose a generalization of these SU(2) symmetries for potentials in the Dirac equation with several Lorentz structures, which also allow for the suppression of the matrix structure of second-order equation equation of either the upper or lower components of the Dirac spinor. We derive the general properties of those potentials and list some possible candidates, which include the usual spin-pseudospin potentials, and also 2- and 1-dimensional potentials. An application for a particular physical system in two dimensions, electrons in graphene, is suggested.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Spin and pseudospin symmetries of the Dirac equation with confining central potentials

We derive the node structure of the radial functions which are solutions of the Dirac equation with scalar $S$ and vector $V$ confining central potentials, in the conditions of exact spin or pseudospin symmetry, i.e., when one has $V=\pm S+C$, where $C$ is a constant. We show that the node structure for exact spin symmetry is the same as the one for central potentials which go to zero at infinity but for exact pseudospin symmetry the structure is reversed. We obtain the important result that it is possible to have positive energy bound solutions in exact pseudospin symmetry conditions for confining potentials of any shape, including naturally those used in hadron physics, from nuclear to quark models. Since this does not happen for potentials going to zero at large distances, used in nuclear relativistic mean-field potentials or in the atomic nucleus, this shows the decisive importance of the asymptotic behavior of the scalar and vector central potentials on the onset of pseudospin symmetry and on the node structure of the radial functions. Finally, we show that these results are still valid for negative energy bound solutions for anti-fermions.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2012

Spin and Pseudospin symmetries in the Dirac equation with central Coulomb potentials

We analyze in detail the analytical solutions of the Dirac equation with scalar S and vector V Coulomb radial potentials near the limit of spin and pseudospin symmetries, i.e., when those potentials have the same magnitude and either the same sign or opposite signs, respectively. By performing an expansion of the relevant coefficients we also assess the perturbative nature of both symmetries and their relations the (pseudo)spin-orbit coupling. The former analysis is made for both positive and negative energy solutions and we reproduce the relations between spin and pseudospin symmetries found before for nuclear mean-field potentials. We discuss the node structure of the radial functions and the quantum numbers of the solutions when there is spin or pseudospin symmetry, which we find to be similar to the well-known solutions of hydrogenic atoms.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Spin and pseudospin symmetries in the antinucleon spectrum of nuclei

Spin and pseudospin symmetries in the spectra of nucleons and antinucleons are studied in a relativistic mean-field theory with scalar and vector Woods-Saxon potentials, in which the strength of the latter is allowed to change. We observe that, for nucleons and antinucleons, the spin symmetry is of perturbative nature and it is almost an exact symmetry in the physical region for antinucleons. The opposite situation is found in the pseudospin symmetry case, which is better realized for nucleons than for antinucleons, but is of dynamical nature and cannot be viewed in a perturbative way both for nucleons and antinucleons. This is shown by computing the spin-orbit and pseudospin-orbit couplings for selected spin and pseudospin partners in both spectra.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2007

Center-of-Mass Correction in a Relativistic Hartree Approximation Including the Meson Degrees of Freedom

The Peierls-Yoccoz projection method is used to study the motion of a relativistic system of nucleons interacting with sigma and omega mesons. The nuclear system is described in a mean-field Hartree approach, including explicitly the meson contribution and the formalism is applied to some selected N=Z spherical nuclei. The center-of-mass motion correction makes the system too much bounded, but we show that an appropriate refitting of the model brings the radii and binding energies close to the experimental values.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2007

Spin and pseudospin symmetries and the equivalent spectra of relativistic spin-1/2 and spin-0 particles

We show that the conditions which originate the spin and pseudospin symmetries in the Dirac equation are the same that produce equivalent energy spectra of relativistic spin-1/2 and spin-0 particles in the presence of vector and scalar potentials. The conclusions do not depend on the particular shapes of the potentials and can be important in different fields of physics. When both scalar and vector potentials are spherical, these conditions for isospectrality imply that the spin-orbit and Darwin terms of either the upper component or the lower component of the Dirac spinor vanish, making it equivalent, as far as energy is concerned, to a spin-0 state. In this case, besides energy, a scalar particle will also have the same orbital angular momentum as the (conserved) orbital angular momentum of either the upper or lower component of the corresponding spin-1/2 particle. We point out a few possible applications of this result.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2006

Relating pseudospin and spin symmetries through charge conjugation and chiral transformations: the case of the relativistic harmonic oscillator

We solve the generalized relativistic harmonic oscillator in 1+1 dimensions, i.e., including a linear pseudoscalar potential and quadratic scalar and vector potentials which have equal or opposite signs. We consider positive and negative quadratic potentials and discuss in detail their bound-state solutions for fermions and antifermions. The main features of these bound states are the same as the ones of the generalized three-dimensional relativistic harmonic oscillator bound states. The solutions found for zero pseudoscalar potential are related to the spin and pseudospin symmetry of the Dirac equation in 3+1 dimensions. We show how the charge conjugation and $γ^5$ chiral transformations relate the several spectra obtained and find that for massless particles the spin and pseudospin symmetry related problems have the same spectrum, but different spinor solutions. Finally, we establish a relation of the solutions found with single-particle states of nuclei described by relativistic mean-field theories with scalar, vector and isoscalar tensor interactions and discuss the conditions in which one may have both nucleon and antinucleon bound states.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2005

Tensor coupling and pseudospin symmetry in nuclei

In this work we study the contribution of the isoscalar tensor coupling to the realization of pseudospin symmetry in nuclei. Using realistic values for the tensor coupling strength, we show that this coupling reduces noticeably the pseudospin splittings, especially for single-particle levels near the Fermi surface. By using an energy decomposition of the pseudospin energy splittings, we show that the changes in these splittings come by mainly through the changes induced in the lower radial wave function for the low-lying pseudospin partners, and by changes in the expectation value of the pseudospin-orbit coupling term for surface partners. This allows us to confirm the conclusion already reached in previous studies, namely that the pseudospin symmetry in nuclei is of a dynamical nature.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2004

Perturbative breaking of the pseudospin symmetry in the relativistic harmonic oscillator

We show that relativistic mean fields theories with scalar, $S$, and vector, $V$, quadratic radial potentials can generate a harmonic oscillator with exact pseudospin symmetry {\it and positive energy bound states} when $S=-V$. The eigenenergies are quite different from those of the non-relativistic harmonic oscillator. We also discuss a mechanism for perturbatively breaking this symmetry by introducing a tensor potential. Our results shed light into the intrinsic relativistic nature of the pseudospin symmetry, which might be important in high density systems such as neutron stars.

nucl-th↗