14308528
Mass dispersions from giant dipole resonances using the Balian–Vénéroni variational approach
The Balian–Veneroni variational approach has been implemented using a three-dimensional time-dependent Hartree–Fock (TDHF) code with realistic Skyrme interactions and used to investigate the mass dispersions from giant dipole resonances in 32S and 132Sn decaying through particle emission. The fluctuations obtained are shown to be quantitatively larger than the standard TDHF results.
15719604
Do Skyrme forces that fit nuclear matter work well in finite nuclei
A short list of Skyrme force parameterizations, recently found to have passed a series of constraints relating to nuclear matter properties is analyzed for their ability to reproduce data in ﬁnite nuclei. We analyse binding energies, isotope shifts, neutron skin thicknesses and ﬁssion barriers. We ﬁnd that the subset of forces have no common ability to reproduce(or otherwise)properties of ﬁnite nuclei, despite passing the extensive range of nuclear matter constraints.
118334826
The Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model: 'quasi-local' quantum criticality in nuclear physics
Motivated by recent work on local quantum criticality in condensed matter systems, we study the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick (LMG) model of nuclear physics as a simple model of a kind of 'quasi-local' quantum criticality. We identify a new crossover temperature, T*(V,W), between linear and nonlinear dynamics, which is analogous to the crossover between the renormalized classical and quantum critical regimes in the condensed-matter case. This temperature T* typically vanishes logarithmically as the quantum phase transition is approached, except near the quantum tricritical point where it becomes linear. We also note a further analogy with condensed-matter quantum criticality: the LMG model exhibits quantum order-by-disorder phenomena, of the type often associated with phase reconstruction near quantum critical points.
17333676
Isoscalar and Isovector Giant Monopole Resonances from a Continuum Hartree-Fock Method
We motivate and summarise some recent results in the application of formally exact boundary conditions in nuclear time-dependent Hartree-Fock calculations, mak- ing use of Laplace transformations to calculate the values of the wave functions at the boundaries. We have realised the method in the case of giant monopole resonances of spherically-symmetric nuclei, and present strength functions of 16 O and 40 Ca using a sim- plified version of the Skyrme force, showing that no artefacts from discretisation occur as contaminatnts
16956676
Continuum time-dependent Hartree-Fock method for giant resonances in spherical nuclei
This paper deals with the solution of the spherically symmetric time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation applied in the case of nuclear giant monopole resonances in the small and large amplitude regimes. The problem is spatially unbounded as the resonance state is in the continuum. The practical requirement to perform the calculation in a finite-sized spatial region results in a difficulty with the spatial boundary conditions. Here we propose an absorbing boundary condition scheme to handle the conflict. The derivation, via a Laplace transform method, and implementation is described. The accuracy and efficiency of the scheme is tested and the results presented to support the case that they are a effective way of handling the artificial boundary. © 2013 American Physical Society.
122193074
The effect of the tensor force on the predicted stability of superheavy nuclei
The effect of the tensor component of the Skyrme effective nucleon-nucleon interaction on the single-particle structure in superheavy elements is studied. A selection of the available Skyrme forces has been chosen and their predictions for the proton and neutron shell closures investigated. The inclusion of the tensor term with realistic coupling strength parameters leads to a small increase in the spin-orbit splitting between the proton 2f7/2 and 2f5/2 partners, opening the Z=114 shell gap over a wide range of nuclei. The Z=126 shell gap, predicted by these models in the absence of the tensor term, is found to be stongly dependent on neutron number with a Z=138 gap opening for large neutron numbers, having a consequent implication for the synthesis of neutron-rich superheavy elements. The predicted neutron shell structures remain largely unchanged by inclusion of the tensor component.
119407227
Optimization and the Ultimate Convergence of QCD Perturbation Theory
Abstract I suggest that QCD perturbation theory can be convergent, and that “optimization” of the renormalization scheme choice is essential in achieving this. Arguing that higher orders probe shorter distances, I suggest that the effective expansion parameter (the “optimized” couplant) decreases at high orders, leading to an induced convergence. The mechanism is illustrated by a simple mathematical example. The point is that, even if the perturbation series is divergent in all fixed renormalization schemes, the sequence of “optimized” approximations may still converge. It is emphasized that the limit approached by perturbation theory, if any, will not be the exact result of the full theory. Allegations that QCD series are not Borel-summable are critically re-examined in this light.
122699564
Optimized Perturbation Theory
Conventional perturbation theory gives different results in different renormalization schemes, a problem which is especially serious in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). I propose a theoretical resolution of this ambiguity which uses the full renormalization-group invariance of the theory. The idea is that, in any kind of approximation scheme which does not respect the known invariances of the exact result, the "optimum" approximant is the one that is "most invariant," i.e., least sensitive to variations in the unphysical parameters. I discuss this principle in several examples, including the Halliday-Suranyi expansion for the anharmonic oscillator. Turning to massless field theories, I identify the unphysical variables which label a particular renormalization scheme as the renormalization point $\ensuremath{\mu}$, and the $\ensuremath{\beta}$-function coefficients. I describe how perturbative approximations depend on these unphysical variables, and show how to find the stationary point which represents the "optimum" result. Certain renormalization-scheme invariants, in one-to-one correspondence with the perturbation-series coefficients, arise naturally in the analysis. An application to the $e$,$\ensuremath{\mu}$ magnetic moments in QED provides a partial test of these ideas, with encouraging results. I suggest possible further theoretical developments, and advocate the method as a sound basis for quantitative QCD phenomenology.
14288023
HYDRODYNAMICS OF THE VACUUM
Hydrodynamics is the appropriate "effective theory" for describing any fluid medium at sufficiently long length scales. This paper treats the vacuum as such a medium and derives the corresponding hydrodynamic equations. Unlike a normal medium the vacuum has no linear sound-wave regime; disturbances always "propagate" nonlinearly. For an "empty vacuum" the hydrodynamic equations are familiar ones (shallow water-wave equations) and they describe an experimentally observed phenomenon — the spreading of a clump of zero-temperature atoms into empty space. The "Higgs vacuum" case is much stranger; pressure and energy density, and hence time and space, exchange roles. The speed of sound is formally infinite, rather than zero as in the empty vacuum. Higher-derivative corrections to the vacuum hydrodynamic equations are also considered. In the empty-vacuum case the corrections are of quantum origin and the post-hydrodynamic description corresponds to the Gross–Pitaevskii equation. We conjecture the form of the post-hydrodynamic corrections in the Higgs case. In the (1+1)-dimensional case the equations possess remarkable "soliton" solutions and appear to constitute a new exactly integrable system.
14066777
Autonomous renormalization of the one-loop effective potential and a 2 TeV higgs in SU(2)×U(1)
Abstract Branchina et al. and Consoli have recently shown that the one-loop effective potential (1LEP) of massless γφ 4 theory can be renormalized in two distinct ways. One of these is the conventional renormalization of Coleman and Weinberg. The other requires an infinite wavefunction renormalization, and is very similar to the “autonomous” renormalization of the gaussian effective potential. We apply the “autonomous” renormalization to the 1LEP of the SU(2) × U(1) electroweak theory with zero bare Higgs mass. The predicted physical Higgs mass is 1.9 TeV.
18791932
Gaussian effective potential for the U(1) Higgs model
In order to investigate the Higgs mechanism nonperturbatively, we compute the Gaussian effective potential of the U(1) Higgs model (“scalar electrodynamics”). We show that the same simple result is obtained in three different formalisms. A general covariant gauge is used, with Landau gauge proving to be optimal. The renormalization generalizes the “autonomous” renormalization for λϕ4 theory and requires a particular relationship between the bare gauge coupling eB and the bare scalar self-coupling λB. When both couplings are small, then λ is proportional to e4 and the scalar/vector mass-squared ratio is of order e2, as in the classic 1-loop analysis of Coleman and Weinberg. However, as λ increases, e reaches a maximum value and then decreases, and in this “nonperturbative” regime the Higgs scalar can be much heavier than the vector boson. We compare our results to the autonomously renormalized 1-loop effective potential, finding close agreement in the physical predictions. The main phenomenological implication is a Higgs mass of about 2 TeV.