Systematics of collective correlation energies from self-consistent mean-field calculations

TL;DR

This paper microscopically computes collective ground-state correlations from low-lying quadrupole excitations using self-consistent mean-field models, analyzing their effects on nuclear properties across various semi-magic nuclei.

Contribution

It demonstrates that collective correlation energies are robust against variations in Skyrme-Hartree-Fock functional parameters, providing a systematic understanding of these correlations.

Findings

Correlation energies are stable under changes in bulk nuclear properties.

Dependence on pairing strength is observed but does not alter overall patterns.

Collective ground-state correlations are largely independent of specific SHF parameters.

Abstract

The collective ground-state correlations stemming from low-lying quadrupole excitations are computed microscopically. To that end, the self-consistent mean-field model is employed on the basis of the Skyrme-Hartre-Fock (SHF) functional augmented by BCS pairing. The microscopic-macroscopic mapping is achieved by quadrupole-constrained mean-field calculations which are processed further in the generator-coordinate method (GCM) at the level of the Gaussian overlap approximation (GOA). We study the correlation effects on energy, charge radii, and surface thickness for a great variety of semi-magic nuclei. A key issue is to work out the influence of variations of the SHF functional. We find that collective ground-state correlations (GSC) are robust under change of nuclear bulk properties (e.g., effective mass, symmetry energy) or of spin-orbit coupling. Some dependence on the pairing strength is observed. This, however, does not change the general conclusion that collective GSC obey a general pattern and that their magnitudes are rather independent of the actual SHF parameters.