Seminar (セミナー)2026.3.31 Matthias Heinz (Oak Ridge Nat. Lab.)
2026年3月24日 | 新着情報
The following seminar will be held on March 31st, 2026, in Meeting Room A, CCS, University of Tsukuba.
Lecturer: Matthias Heinz (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA)
Place: Meeting Room A (1F), Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba
Date/Time: March 31st, 2026, 13:30-
Title:
Towards precise ab initio predictions of neutron densities and skins
Abstract:
While proton densities of atomic nuclei are experimentally relatively accessible, measuring neutron densities is a formidable challenge. Knowledge of neutron densities, however, is crucial. Neutron densities contribute to fundamental interactions in nuclei, making them relevant for searches for physics beyond the standard model. The development of neutron skins in heavy nuclei with more neutrons than protons impacts our understanding nuclear forces in neutron-rich environments. This then has implications for the properties of matter in neutron stars. As neutron densities are very difficult to measure, we rely on nuclear theory for predictions. In this seminar, I discuss work on ab initio computations of neutron densities of nuclei. Ab initio, or first-principles, nuclear theory employs nuclear forces from effective field theory and systematically improvable many-body methods, allowing for complete uncertainty quantification. This enables precise predictions of nuclear properties with robust uncertainty estimates. I present work on neutron densities for muon to electron conversion, a proposed beyond-standard-model process, and analyses of high-precision electron scattering and parity violating electron scattering, which aim to determine the neutron skins of key nuclei. Because of the complete control over the uncertainties that enter our calculations, our ab initio computations give new insights into the nuclear structure physics in each of these domains.