Isospin Asymmetry And Symmetry Energy Constraints In Finite Nuclei Through Ab Initio Many-Body Calculations
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The energy required to convert symmetric nuclear matter into pure neutron matter is given by the nuclear symmetry energy, which is a fundamental quantity relating nuclear physics, heavy ion reactions, and astrophysical processes such as the structure of the crust of neutron stars. This review discusses recent developments on isospin asymmetry and symmetry energy constraints within finite nuclei based on modern ab initio many body approaches with chiral effective field theory interactions. This review covers the theoretical basis of nuclear symmetry energy in the context of infinite nuclear matter and finite nuclei and its correlation with various observables, such as neutron skin thickness, electric dipole polarizability, and isobaric analogue states energies. The use of coupled cluster method, self-consistent Green’s function, and in-medium similarity renormalization group calculations in setting the values of symmetry energy coefficients (J) and its slope parameter (L) at saturation density is emphasized in particular. This review also considers predictions made by ab initio theory on the neutron skins of 48Ca and 208Pb nuclei and contrasts them with recent parity-violating electron scattering experiments conducted by the CREX and PREX collaborations. In addition to that, we discuss the significance of the conflict between experiment and theory for the nuclear equation of state, the density dependence of the symmetry energy, and the importance of three-nucleon force effects in chiral interactions. We complement this discussion with additional information based on astrophysical measurements and heavy-ion reactions. This review thus gives an overview of the present status of ab initio calculations of the nuclear symmetry energy.
Source: PAIN JOINTS SPINE
Author: Dr. Arti Pandoh Gupta
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7171320701