Ab initio nuclear thermodynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel Monte Carlo method called the pinhole trace algorithm for efficient ab initio nuclear thermodynamics calculations, enabling detailed studies of nuclear phase transitions and clustering.

Contribution

The paper presents a new Monte Carlo technique that significantly accelerates ab initio nuclear thermodynamics simulations and applies it to study critical phenomena and clustering in nuclear matter.

Findings

Speedup of up to 1000x over traditional methods

Identification of the critical point and coexistence line in symmetric nuclear matter

First ab initio analysis of nuclear clustering dependence on density and temperature

Abstract

We propose a new Monte Carlo method called the pinhole trace algorithm for {\it ab initio} calculations of the thermodynamics of nuclear systems. For typical simulations of interest, the computational speedup relative to conventional grand-canonical ensemble calculations can be as large as a factor of one thousand. Using a leading-order effective interaction that reproduces the properties of many atomic nuclei and neutron matter to a few percent accuracy, we determine the location of the critical point and the liquid-vapor coexistence line for symmetric nuclear matter with equal numbers of protons and neutrons. We also present the first {\it ab initio} study of the density and temperature dependence of nuclear clustering.