Cluster virial expansion for nuclear matter within a quasiparticle statistical approach

TL;DR

This paper develops a quasiparticle virial expansion approach for nuclear matter that incorporates clusters and resonances, effectively bridging low-density and saturation density regimes.

Contribution

It extends the Beth-Uhlenbeck approach to include arbitrary clusters in a consistent way, avoiding double counting and accounting for Pauli blocking effects.

Findings

The method unifies low-density and saturation density descriptions.

Explicit cluster inclusion reduces continuum contributions.

The approach aligns with known benchmarks across densities.

Abstract

Correlations in interacting many-particle systems can lead to the formation of clusters, in particular bound states and resonances. Systematic quantum statistical approaches allow to combine the nuclear statistical equilibrium description (law of mass action) with mean-field concepts. A chemical picture, which treats the clusters as distinct entities, serves as an intuitive concept to treat the low-density limit. Within a generalized Beth-Uhlenbeck approach, the quasiparticle virial expansion is extended to include arbitrary clusters, where special attention must be paid to avoid inconsistencies such as double counting. Correlations are suppressed with increasing density due to Pauli blocking. The contribution of the continuum to the virial coefficients can be reduced by considering clusters explicitly and introducing quasiparticle energies. The cluster-virial expansion for nuclear matter joins known benchmarks at low densities with those near saturation density.