Lowest-order contributions of chiral three-nucleon interactions to pairing properties of nuclear ground states

TL;DR

This paper investigates how first-order chiral three-nucleon forces influence nuclear pairing properties, revealing a significant repulsive effect that accounts for about 70% of experimental pairing gaps, highlighting the need for higher-order calculations.

Contribution

It provides a systematic analysis of the first-order effects of chiral three-nucleon interactions on nuclear pairing, extending previous two-nucleon studies.

Findings

Three-nucleon forces have a significant repulsive impact on pairing gaps.

Combined two- and three-nucleon interactions explain approximately 70% of experimental gaps.

Higher-order contributions are necessary for complete modeling.

Abstract

We perform a systematic study of the odd-even mass staggering generated using a pairing interaction computed at first order in low-momentum interactions. Building on previous work including the (nuclear plus Coulomb) two-nucleon interaction only, we focus here on the first-order contribution from chiral three-nucleon forces. We observe a significant repulsive effect from the three-nucleon interaction. The combined contribution from two- and three-nucleon interactions accounts for approximately 70% of the experimental pairing gaps. This leaves room for higher-order contributions to the pairing kernel and the normal self-energy that need to be computed consistently.