Multi-Reference Energy Density Functional Calculations of Odd-Mass Nuclei

Benjamin Bally , UNC Chapel Hill
Tuesday, Jan 22, 11:00 AM - Theory Seminar
1200 FRIB Laboratory

Abstract:  For more than forty years, the Energy Density Functional (EDF) method has proven to be a useful tool to study low-energy nuclear structure and reactions. In particular, its Multi-Reference (MR) formulation allows the study of complex phenomena that emerge in the strongly-correlated finite quantal system that is the atomic nucleus. The most advanced MR-EDF methods combine efficiently the idea of symmetry breaking and restoration with the mixing of different reference states by the Generator Coordinate Method (GCM) to include important static correlations, such as pairing or deformation, as well as beyond mean-field effects. To this day, it is the most advanced microscopic method at our disposal to tackle heavy-mass nuclei. In this seminar, I will talk about the recent developments achieved to describe odd-mass nuclei within the MR-EDF formalism as well as some of the challenges faced by the practitioners, in particular regarding the effective interactions currently used and the computational limits of such an approach. Indeed, the most advanced MR-EDF methods that combine symmetry restorations and/or configuration mixing are computationally demanding and require large-scale computing facilities. This has to be contrasted with the picturesque idea of EDF approaches as low-cost computing methods.