Nuclear symmetry energy and the role of the tensor force

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the tensor component of the nucleon-nucleon interaction predominantly influences the nuclear symmetry energy and its slope, using a microscopic Brueckner--Hartree--Fock approach with realistic potentials.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the tensor force's role in nuclear symmetry energy using the Hellmann--Feynman theorem within a microscopic framework.

Findings

Tensor force is the main contributor to $E_{sym}$ and $L$

Analysis performed with Argonne V18 potential and Urbana IX three-body force

Highlights importance of tensor interactions in nuclear matter

Abstract

Using the Hellmann--Feynman theorem we analyze the contribution of the different terms of the nucleon-nucleon interaction to the nuclear symmetry energy $E_{sym}$ and the slope parameter $L$. The analysis is performed within the microscopic Brueckner--Hartree--Fock approach using the Argonne V18 potential plus the Urbana IX three-body force. We find that the main contribution to $E_{sym}$ and $L$ is due to the tensor component of the nuclear force.