Building a Universal Nuclear Energy Density Functional (UNEDF): SciDAC-2 Project
An understanding of the properties of atomic nuclei is crucial for a complete nuclear theory, for element formation, for properties of stars, and for present and future energy and defense applications. During the period of Dec. 1, 2006 - Jun. 30, 2012, the UNEDF collaboration carried out a comprehensive study of all nuclei based on the most accurate knowledge of the strong nuclear interaction, the most reliable theoretical approaches, the most advanced algorithms, and extensive computational resources, with a view towards scaling to the petaflop platforms and beyond. The long-term vision initiated with UNEDF is to arrive at a comprehensive, quantitative, and unified description of nuclei and their reactions, grounded in the fundamental interactions between the constituent nucleons. We seek to replace current phenomenological models of nuclear structure and reactions with a well-founded microscopic theory that delivers maximum predictive power with well-quantified uncertainties. Specifically, the mission of this project has been three-fold: first, to find an optimal energy density functional (EDF) using all our knowledge of the nucleonic Hamiltonian and basic nuclear properties; second, to apply the EDF theory and its extensions to validate the functional using all the available relevant nuclear structure and reaction data; and third, to apply the validated theory to properties of interest that cannot be measured, in particular the properties needed for reaction theory.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC02-09ER41589
- OSTI ID:
- 1150654
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-UNC-41589
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Building a Universal Nuclear Energy Density Functional
Building a Universal Nuclear Energy Density Functional (UNEDF). SciDAC-2 Project