arXiv subjects

V. Somà

Publications and source records attributed to V. Somà.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The iconic $^{238}$U: ab initio nuclear structure theory towards the limit of the periodic table

The ab initio description of heavy and superheavy nuclei constitutes one of the holy grails of nuclear theory, bearing on the synthesis of the heaviest elements and the limits of nuclear stability. Over the last fifteen years, many-body expansion methods, whose numerical cost scales polynomially with system size, have extended first-principles calculations to medium-mass nuclei and a few spherical closed-shell heavy systems. The largest portion of the nuclear chart is however composed of heavy deformed doubly open-shell nuclei and has remained completely out of reach. This is due to two major obstacles: (i) the huge computational cost of beyond mean-field calculations in very large single-particle bases, and (ii) a dubious collapse of the mean-field energy at large prolate deformation. While a highly efficient numerical implementation of the novel deformed self-consistent Green's function formalism removes the first difficulty, the second is cured by the inclusion of many-body correlations beyond the deformed mean field. Presenting the first ab initio calculation of the iconic $^{238}$U nucleus, this work brings the upper-end of the nuclear chart within reach of theoretical predictions based on first principles.

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arXiv2026

Deformed self-consistent Green's function method for atomic nuclei at second and third order in the algebraic diagrammatic construction

The description of atomic nuclei from first principles constitutes one of the central goals of nuclear theory. Polynomial-scaling expansion methods have extended \textit{ab initio} calculations at sub-percent accuracy to medium-mass nuclei and a few closed-shell heavy nuclei, but deformed doubly open-shell heavy and superheavy nuclei remain out of reach. The self-consistent Green's function (SCGF) formalism is here extended to doubly open-shell nuclei by allowing the one-body propagator to spontaneously break SU(2) rotational symmetry. The resulting deformed SCGF (dSCGF) scheme, based on the algebraic diagrammatic construction truncated at first, second, and third order, is implemented in a newly developed many-body suite, \texttt{FoxTrot}. Numerical strategies required to handle the associated, symmetry-unrestricted $M$-scheme working basis are discussed in detail. The method is illustrated through a study of $^{28}$Si based on the 1.8/2.0 (EM) Hamiltonian. The impact of the three-nucleon interaction and of its rank-reduction approximation on the deformed Hartree-Fock total energy curve is examined, and the correlated curve obtained from constrained dSCGF calculations is shown to differ appreciably from the mean-field one. Physical solutions appearing as minima of the correlated curve are shown to be reachable via unconstrained calculations starting from any point along the deformed Hartree-Fock curve, demonstrating the self-consistent character of the method. The $^{28}$Si ground-state binding energy at third order, extrapolated to the infinite basis-size limit, reproduces experiment within $2.1\%$, while the excited prolate solution is consistent with the observed $0^+_3$ shape isomer. The present developments open the way to an accurate ab initio description of all (very) heavy nuclei in the near future.

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arXiv2025

Topical issue on the intersection of low-energy nuclear structure and high-energy nuclear collisions

High-energy heavy-ion physics and low-energy nuclear structure physics have historically been disconnected fields. The hydrodynamic description of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) requires input from nuclear structure to model the initial states of the colliding nuclei. Advances in both theory and experiment now show that the hydrodynamic evolution of the QGP is sensitive to the detailed features of the colliding nuclei, with remarkable consequences for experimental observables. The topical collection represents a joint effort between the low- and high-energy nuclear communities, reflecting the growing recognition that precision modeling of nuclear structure is essential for interpreting high-energy collision data. This new experimental approach opens outstanding opportunities to deepen our understanding of strong-interaction matter. Indeed, by probing many-body correlations of nucleons directly in the nuclear ground state, high-energy collisions provide a unique way to "image" nuclei, fully complementary to the techniques of low-energy experiments, where nuclear collectivity is usually inferred from spectroscopic information on excited states. Do emergent many-body QCD phenomena in nuclei manifest consistently across experiments and energy scales? Addressing this question requires synergy between collider data and state-of-the-art nuclear structure calculations. In view of the rapid progress of ab initio methods based on low-energy effective field theories of QCD, the implications are far-reaching: heavy-ion collisions can probe nuclear forces, while nuclear structure insights refine our understanding of QGP dynamics.

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arXiv2025

Refined topology of the N = 20 island of inversion with high precision mass measurements of $^{31-33}$Na and $^{31-35}$Mg

Mass measurements of $^{31-33}$Na and $^{31-35}$Mg using the TITAN MR-TOF-MS at TRIUMF's ISAC facility are presented, with the uncertainty of the $^{33}$Na mass reduced by over two orders of magnitude. The excellent performance of the MR-TOF-MS has also allowed the discovery of a millisecond isomer in $^{32}$Na. The precision obtained shows that the binding energy of the normally closed N = 20 neutron shell reaches a minimum for $^{32}$Mg but increases significantly for $^{31}$Na, hinting at the possibility of enhanced shell strength toward the unbound $^{28}$O. We compare the results with new ab initio predictions that raise intriguing questions of nuclear structure beyond the dripline.

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arXiv2025

Mean-field approximation on steroids: exact description of the deuteron

The present article demonstrates that the deuteron, i.e. the lightest bound nuclear system made of a single proton and a single neutron, can be accurately described within a mean-field-based framework. Although paradoxical at first glance, the deuteron ground-state binding energy, magnetic dipole moment, electric quadrupole moment and root-mean-square proton radius are indeed reproduced with sub-percent accuracy via a low-dimensional linear combination of non-orthogonal Bogoliubov states, i.e. with a method whose numerical cost scales as $n_{\text{dim}}^4$, where $n_{\text{dim}}$ is the dimension of the basis of the one-body Hilbert space. By further putting the system into a harmonic trap, the neutron-proton scattering length and effective range in the ${}^{3}S_1$ channel are also accurately reproduced. To achieve this task, (i) the inclusion of proton-neutron pairing through the mixing of proton and neutron single-particle states in the Bogoliubov transformation and (ii) the restoration of proton and neutron numbers before variation are shown to be mandatory ingredients. This unexpected result has implications regarding the most efficient way to capture necessary correlations as a function of nuclear mass and regarding the possibility to ensure order-by-order renormalizability of many-body calculations based on chiral or pionless effective field theories beyond light nuclei. In this context, the present study will be extended to $^{3}$H and $^{3,4}$He in the near future as well as to the leading order of pionless effective field theory.

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arXiv2024

Symmetry-restored Skyrme-Random-Phase-Approximation calculations of the monopole strength in deformed nuclei

Within the Energy Density Functional (EDF) approach, the use of mean-field wave-functions deliberately breaking (some) symmetries of the underlying Hamiltonian is an efficient and largely utilized way to incorporate static correlations. However, the restoration of broken symmetries is eventually mandatory to recover the corresponding quantum numbers and to achieve a more precise description of nuclear properties. While symmetry-restored calculations are routinely performed to study ground-state properties and low-lying excitations, similar applications to the nuclear response are essentially limited to either formal studies or to schematic models. In the present paper, the effect of angular momentum restoration on the monopole and quadrupole responses of doubly open-shell nuclei is investigated. Based on deformed Skyrme-Random Phase Approximation (RPA) calculations, the exact Angular Momentum Projection (AMP) is implemented in the calculation of the multipole strength functions, thus defining a projection after variation (PAV-RPA) scheme. The method is employed for the first time in a realistic study to investigate the effect of AMP on the coupling of monopole and quadrupole modes in $^{24}$Mg resulting from its intrinsic deformation.

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arXiv2023

Cross-shell states in $^{15}$C: a test for p-sd interactions

The low-lying structure of $^{15}$C has been investigated via the neutron-removal $^{16}$C$(d,t)$ reaction. Along with bound neutron sd-shell hole states, unbound p-shell hole states have been firmly confirmed. The excitation energies and the deduced spectroscopic factors of the cross-shell states are an important measure of the $[(p)^{-1}(sd)^{2}]$ neutron configurations in $^{15}$C. Our results show a very good agreement with shell-model calculations using the SFO-tls interaction for $^{15}$C. However, a modification of the $p$-$sd$ and $sd$-$sd$ monopole terms was applied in order to reproduce the $N=9$ isotone $^{17}$O. In addition, the excitation energies and spectroscopic factors have been compared to the first calculations of $^{15}$C with the $ab~ initio$ self-consistent Green's function method employing the NNLO$_{sat}$ interaction. The results show the sensitivity to the size of the $N=8$ shell gap and highlight the need of going beyond the current truncation scheme in the theory.

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arXiv2022

Rooting the EDF method into the ab initio framework. PGCM-PT formalism based on MR-IMSRG pre-processed Hamiltonians

Recently, ab initio techniques have been successfully connected to the traditional valence-space shell model. In doing so, they can either explicitly provide ab initio shell-model effective Hamiltonians or constrain the construction of empirical ones. In the present work, the possibility to follow a similar path for the nuclear energy density functional (EDF) method is analyzed. For this connection to be actualized, two theoretical techniques are instrumental: the recently proposed ab initio PGCM-PT many-body formalism and the MR-IMSRG pre-processing of the nuclear Hamiltonian. Based on both formal arguments and numerical results, possible new lines of research are briefly discussed, namely to compute ab initio EDF effective Hamiltonians at low computational cost, to constrain empirical ones or to produce them directly via an effective field theory that remains to be invented.

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arXiv2022

Zero- and finite-temperature electromagnetic strength distributions in closed- and open-shell nuclei from first principles

Ab initio approaches to the nuclear many-body problem have seen their reach considerably extended over the past decade. However, collective excitations have been scarcely addressed so far due to the prohibitive cost of solving the corresponding equations of motion. Here, a numerically efficient method to compute electromagnetic response functions at zero- and finite-temperature in superfluid and deformed nuclei from an ab initio standpoint is presented and applied to $^{16}$O, $^{28}$Si, $^{46}$Ti and $^{56}$Fe. This work opens the path to systematic ab initio calculations of nuclear responses to electroweak probes across a significant portion of the nuclear chart.

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arXiv2022

A First Glimpse at the Shell Structure beyond $^{54}$Ca: Spectroscopy of $^{55}$K, $^{55}$Ca, and $^{57}$Ca

States in the $N=35$ and 37 isotopes $^{55,57}$Ca have been populated by direct proton-induced nucleon removal reactions from $^{56,58}$Sc and $^{56}$Ca beams at the RIBF. In addition, the $(p,2p)$ quasi-free single-proton removal reaction from $^{56}$Ca was studied. Excited states in $^{55}$K, $^{55}$Ca, and $^{57}$Ca were established for the first time via in-beam $γ$-ray spectroscopy. Results for the proton and neutron removal reactions from $^{56}$Ca to states in $^{55}$K and $^{55}$Ca for the level energies, excited state lifetimes, and exclusive cross sections agree well with state-of-the-art theoretical calculations using different approaches. The observation of a short-lived state in $^{57}$Ca suggests a transition in the calcium isotopic chain from single-particle dominated states at $N=35$ to collective excitations at $N=37$.

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arXiv2021

Nuclear Charge Radii of the Nickel Isotopes $^{58-68,70}$Ni

Collinear laser spectroscopy is performed on the nickel isotopes $^{58-68,70}$Ni, using a time-resolved photon counting system. From the measured isotope shifts, nuclear charge radii $R_c$ are extracted and compared to theoretical results. Three ab initio approaches all employ, among others, the chiral interaction NNLO$_{\rm sat}$, which allows an assessment of their accuracy. We find agreement with experiment in differential radii $δ\left\langle r_\mathrm{c}^2 \right\rangle$ for all employed ab initio methods and interactions, while the absolute radii are consistent with data only for NNLO$_{\rm sat}$. Within nuclear density functional theory, the Skyrme functional SV-min matches experiment more closely than the Fayans functional Fy($Δr$,HFB).

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arXiv2021

Investigation of the ground-state spin inversion in the neutron-rich 47,49Cl isotopes

A first gamma-ray study of 47,49Cl spectroscopy was performed at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory with 50Ar projectiles at 217 MeV/nucleon, impinging on the liquid hydrogen target of the MINOS device. Prompt de-excitation gamma-rays were measured with the NaI(Tl) array DALI2+. Through the one-proton knockout reaction 50Ar(p,2p), a spin assignment could be determined for the low-lying states of 49Cl from the momentum distribution obtained with the SAMURAI spectrometer. A spin-parity J = 3/2+ is deduced for the ground state of 49Cl, similar to the recently studied N = 32 isotope 51K.

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arXiv2020

Novel chiral Hamiltonian and observables in light and medium-mass nuclei

A novel parameterisation of a Hamiltonian based on chiral effective field theory is introduced. Specifically, three-nucleon operators at next-to-next-to-leading order are combined with an existing (and successful) two-body interaction containing terms up to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order. The resulting potential is labelled $N\!N\!$+$3N\text{(lnl)}$. The objective of the present work is to investigate the performance of this new Hamiltonian across light and medium-mass nuclei. Binding energies, nuclear radii and excitation spectra are computed using no-core shell model and self-consistent Green's function approaches. Calculations with $N\!N\!$+$3N\text{(lnl)}$ are compared to two other representative Hamiltonians currently in use, namely NNLO$_{\text{sat}}$ and the older $N\!N\!$+$3N(400)$. Overall, the performance of the novel interaction is very encouraging. In light nuclei, total energies are generally in good agreement with experimental data. Known spectra are also well reproduced with a few notable exceptions. The good description of ground-state energies carries on to heavier nuclei, all the way from oxygen to nickel isotopes. Except for those involving excitation processes across the $N=20$ gap, which is overestimated by the new interaction, spectra are of very good quality, in general superior to those obtained with NNLO$_{\text{sat}}$. Although largely improving on $N\!N\!$+$3N(400)$ results, charge radii calculated with $N\!N\!$+$3N\text{(lnl)}$ still underestimate experimental values, as opposed to the ones computed with NNLO$_{\text{sat}}$ that successfully reproduce available data on nickel. On the whole, the new two- plus three-nucleon Hamiltonian introduced in the present work represents a promising alternative to existing nuclear interactions.

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arXiv2020

Lepton scattering from $^{40}$Ar and $^{48}$Ti in the quasielastic peak region

Neutron and proton spectral functions of $^{40}$Ar, $^{40}$Ca, and $^{48}$Ti isotopes are computed using the ab initio self-consistent Green's function approach. The resulting radii and charge distributions are in good agreement with available experimental data. The spectral functions of Ar and Ti are then utilized to calculate inclusive ($e$,$e$') cross sections within a factorization scheme and are found to correctly reproduce the recent Jefferson Lab measurements. Based on these successful agreements, the weak charged and neutral current double-differential cross sections for neutrino-$^{40}$Ar scattering are predicted in the quasielastic region. Results obtained by replacing the (experimentally inaccessible) neutron spectral distribution of $^{40}$Ar with the (experimentally accessible) proton distribution of $^{48}$Ti are compared and the accuracy of this approximation is assessed.

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arXiv2018

From the liquid drop model to lattice QCD

The present article aims to give a concise account of the main developments in nuclear structure theory, from its origin in the 1930s to date, taking the modelling of inter-nucleon interactions as guideline.

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arXiv2018

Dawning of the N=32 shell closure seen through precision mass measurements of neutron-rich titanium isotopes

A precision mass investigation of the neutron-rich titanium isotopes $^{51-55}$Ti was performed at TRIUMF's Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN). The range of the measurements covers the $N=32$ shell closure and the overall uncertainties of the $^{52-55}$Ti mass values were significantly reduced. Our results confirm the existence of a weak shell effect at $N=32$, establishing the abrupt onset of this shell closure. Our data were compared with state-of-the-art \textit{ab-initio} shell model calculations which, despite very successfully describing where the $N=32$ shell gap is strong, overpredict its strength and extent in titanium and heavier isotones. These measurements also represent the first scientific results of TITAN using the newly commissioned Multiple-Reflection Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS), substantiated by independent measurements from TITAN's Penning trap mass spectrometer.

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arXiv2016

Ab initio calculation of the potential bubble nucleus $^{34}$Si

The possibility that an unconventional depletion in the center of the charge density distribution of certain nuclei occurs due to a purely quantum mechanical effect has attracted theoretical and experimental attention in recent years. We report on ab initio self-consistent Green's function calculations of one of such candidates, $^{34}$Si, together with its Z+2 neighbour $^{36}$S. Binding energies, rms radii and density distributions of the two nuclei as well as low-lying spectroscopy of $^{35}$Si, $^{37}$S, $^{33}$Al and $^{35}$P are discussed. The interpretation of one-nucleon removal and addition spectra in terms of the evolution of the underlying shell structure is also provided. The study is repeated using several chiral effective field theory Hamiltonians as a way to test the robustness of the results with respect to input inter-nucleon interactions. The prediction regarding the (non-)existence of the bubble structure in $^{34}$Si varies significantly with the nuclear Hamiltonian used. However, demanding that the experimental charge density distribution and the root mean square radius of $^{36}$S are well reproduced, along with $^{34}$Si and $^{36}$S binding energies, only leaves the NNLO$_{\text{sat}}$ Hamiltonian as a serious candidate to perform this prediction. In this context, a bubble structure, whose fingerprint should be visible in an electron scattering experiment of $^{34}$Si, is predicted. Furthermore, a clear correlation is established between the occurrence of the bubble structure and the weakening of the 1/2$^-$-3/2$^-$ splitting in the spectrum of $^{35}$Si as compared to $^{37}$S.

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arXiv2016

Radii and binding energies in oxygen isotopes: a puzzle for nuclear forces

We present a systematic study of both nuclear radii and binding energies in (even) oxygen isotopes from the valley of stability to the neutron drip line. Both charge and matter radii are compared to state-of-the-art {\it ab initio} calculations along with binding energy systematics. Experimental matter radii are obtained through a complete evaluation of the available elastic proton scattering data of oxygen isotopes. We show that, in spite of a good reproduction of binding energies, {\it ab initio} calculations with conventional nuclear interactions derived within chiral effective field theory fail to provide a realistic description of charge and matter radii. A novel version of two- and three-nucleon forces leads to considerable improvement of the simultaneous description of the three observables for stable isotopes, but shows deficiencies for the most neutron-rich systems. Thus, crucial challenges related to the development of nuclear interactions remain.

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