Advances in theoretical modeling of atomic nuclei

The facility is seen from above. Credit: CERN.

The atomic nucleus is hard to crack. The interaction between the protons and neutrons is dependent on many quantities, and the particles are subject to both two-body and three-body forces. The theoretical modeling of atomic nuclei is difficult.

In the past few decades, theoretical calculations have begun to change our understanding of nuclei. These calculations require less assumptions than traditional nuclear models and have a stronger predictive power. They can only be used to predict the properties of nuclei up to a certain atomic mass, so they can't be compared with DFT calculations, which have been around for longer. A nuclear model that is applicable across the board requires a comparison.

An international team at the ISOLDE facility shows how a unique combination of high-quality experimental data and several Ab initio and DFT nuclear-physics calculations has resulted in an excellent agreement between the different calculations.

Stephan Malbrunot, the first author of the paper, says that precision nuclear theory from first principles is no longer a dream. The calculations agree with each other, as well as with our ISOLDE data on nickel nuclei, to within a small theoretical uncertainty.

Malbrunot and colleagues used a suite of experimental methods at ISOLDE, including a technique to detect the light emitted by short-lived atoms when laser light is shone on them. The nucleus is filled with 28 protons, which result in nuclei that are more stable than their nuclear neighbors. In terms of their radius, nickel nuclei are the last unexplored magic nuclei that have a mass within the mass region that can be used for calculations.

The calculations agree with the data, as well as with each other, to within a theoretical uncertainty of one part in a hundred.

Malbrunot says that an agreement at this level of precision shows that it will eventually become possible to build a model that is applicable across the whole chart of nuclei.

Nuclear Charge radii of the nickel is included in the Physical Review Letters. There is a book titled "PhysRevLett.128.022502."

Journal information: Physical Review Letters.

The news about the Advances in theoretical modeling of atomic nuclei was retrieved fromphys.org on January 14, 2022.

The document is copyrighted. Any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research cannot be reproduced without written permission. The content is not intended to be used for anything other than information purposes.