Self-consistent Green's functions calculation of the nucleon mean-free path

TL;DR

This paper uses self-consistent Green's functions in the complex energy plane to calculate nucleon quasi-particle properties and mean-free paths in nuclear matter, providing microscopic insights into nucleon propagation at various energies.

Contribution

It introduces a method to compute nucleon mean-free paths using self-consistent Green's functions with complex energies, advancing microscopic nuclear matter modeling.

Findings

Nucleon mean-free path is 4-5 fm above 50 MeV energy.

The approach yields consistent spectra and lifetimes of quasi-particles.

Results are relevant near nuclear saturation density.

Abstract

The extension of Green's functions techniques to the complex energy plane provides access to fully dressed quasi-particle properties from a microscopic perspective. Using self-consistent ladder self-energies, we find both spectra and lifetimes of such quasi-particles in nuclear matter. With a consistent choice of the group velocity, the nucleon mean-free path can be computed. Our results indicate that, for energies above 50 MeV at densities close to saturation, a nucleon has a mean-free path of 4 to 5 femtometers.