Symmetry-adapted no-core shell model applications for light nuclei with QCD-inspired interactions

J. P. Draayer, Louisiana State University
T. Dytrych, Louisiana State University
K. D. Launey, Louisiana State University
D. Langr, Czech Technical University in Prague

Abstract

We use powerful computational and group-theoretical algorithms to perform ab initio CI (configuration-interaction) calculations in a model space spanned by SU(3) symmetry-adapted many-body configurations with the JISP16 nucleonnucleon interaction. We demonstrate that the results for the ground states of light nuclei up through A=16 exhibit a strong dominance of low-spin and high-deformation configurations together with an evident symplectic structure. We also find states among the lowest-lying 0 + eigenstates of 12C and 16O that are clearly dominated by α-clustering correlations. Our findings imply that only a small fraction of the full model space is needed to model nuclear collective dynamics, including deformations and α-particle clustering, even if one uses modern realistic interactions that do not preserve SU(3) symmetry. This, in turn, points to the importance of using a symmetry-adapted CI framework, one based on an LS coupling scheme with the associated spatial configurations organized according to deformation. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.