Structure Factors for Hot Neutron Matter from Ab Initio Lattice Simulations with High-Fidelity Chiral Interactions

Journal Article · Wed Jun 05 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.132.232502· OSTI ID:2374710

Ma, Yuan-Zhuo ^[1]; Lin, Zidu ^[2]; Lu, Bing-Nan ^[3]; Elhatisari, Serdar ^[4]; Lee, Dean ^[5]; Li, Ning ^[6]; Meißner, Ulf-G ^[7]; Steiner, Andrew W. ^[8]; Wang, Qian ^[9]

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1. South China Normal University, Guangzhou (China); Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (United States); Michigan State University
2. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
3. Graduate School of China Academy of Engineering Physics, Beijing (China)
4. Gaziantep Islam Science and Technology University (Turkey); Universität Bonn (Germany)
5. Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (United States)
6. Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou (China)
7. Universität Bonn (Germany); Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany); Tbilisi State University (Georgia)
8. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
9. South China Normal University, Guangzhou (China)

We present the first ab initio lattice calculations of spin and density correlations in hot neutron matter using high-fidelity interactions at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order in chiral effective field theory. These correlations have a large impact on neutrino heating and shock revival in core-collapse supernovae and are encapsulated in functions called structure factors. Unfortunately, calculations of structure factors using high-fidelity chiral interactions were well out of reach using existing computational methods. In this Letter, we solve the problem using a computational approach called the rank-one operator (RO) method. The RO method is a general technique with broad applications to simulations of fermionic many-body systems. It solves the problem of exponential scaling of computational effort when using perturbation theory for higher-body operators and higher-order corrections. Using the RO method, we compute the vector and axial static structure factors for hot neutron matter as a function of temperature and density. Here, the ab initio lattice results are in good agreement with virial expansion calculations at low densities but are more reliable at higher densities. Random phase approximation codes used to estimate neutrino opacity in core-collapse supernovae simulations can now be calibrated with ab initio lattice calculations.

• Research Organization: Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: China Postdoctoral Science Foundation; European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme; Guangdong Provincial; National Natural Science Foundation of China; President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI); USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP); Volkswagen Stiftung
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725; SC0013365; SC0021152; SC0023175; SC0023658; SC0024586
• OSTI ID: 2374710
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 2429804; OSTI ID: 2474296
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 23 Vol. 132; ISSN 0031-9007
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
ab initio
ab initio calculations
chiral effective field theory
neutron matter
nuclear astrophysics
nuclear physics of explosive environments
structure factor
thermodynamics