Electroweak reactions with light nuclei

TL;DR

This paper explores electromagnetic and weak reactions in light nuclei using ab-initio methods to understand nuclear forces, especially three-body interactions, and compares theoretical results with experimental data and astrophysical applications.

Contribution

It provides new ab-initio calculations of electromagnetic and weak reactions in light nuclei, highlighting the role of three-body forces and offering insights for nuclear physics and astrophysics.

Findings

Electromagnetic reactions are sensitive to three-body forces.

Theoretical results agree with experimental data for photo-absorption and electron scattering.

Ab-initio predictions are valuable for astrophysical models involving neutrino interactions.

Abstract

The investigation of light nuclei with ab-initio methods provides an optimal setting to probe our knowledge on nuclear forces, because the few-nucleon problem can be solved accurately. Nucleons interact not only in pairs but also via many-body forces. Theoretical efforts need to be taken towards the identification of nuclear observables sensitive to the less known many-nucleon forces. Electromagnetic reactions can potentially provide useful information on this. We present results on photo-absorption and electron scattering off light nuclei, emphasizing the role of three-body forces and the comparison with experimental data. On the other hand, reactions induced by weak probes, like neutrino interactions with nucleonic matter, are relevant to astrophysics and can be calculated with few-body techniques. In this case, since often no experiment is possible, ab-initio predictions provide valuable input for astrophysical simulations.