Halo nuclei with the Coulomb-Sturmian basis

TL;DR

This paper introduces Coulomb-Sturmian basis functions for nuclear structure calculations, improving the description of halo nuclei by better capturing their asymptotic exponential decay compared to traditional oscillator bases.

Contribution

It presents a novel basis for ab initio NCCI calculations that accurately models the asymptotic behavior of halo nuclei, addressing limitations of Gaussian-based functions.

Findings

Successful application to neutron-rich He isotopes

More accurate estimates of RMS radii for protons and neutrons

Demonstrates improved asymptotic wave function description

Abstract

The rapid falloff of the oscillator functions at large radius (Gaussian asymptotics) makes them poorly suited for the description of the asymptotic properties of the nuclear wave function, a problem which becomes particularly acute for halo nuclei. We consider an alternative basis for ab initio no-core configuration interaction (NCCI) calculations, built from Coulomb-Sturmian radial functions, allowing for realistic (exponential) radial falloff. NCCI calculations are carried out for the neutron-rich He isotopes, and estimates are made for the RMS radii of the proton and neutron distributions.