Ab initio informed 20Ne(p, p$\alpha$)16O reaction elucidates the emergence of alpha clustering from chiral potentials

TL;DR

This paper uses ab initio methods to study alpha clustering in 20Ne via a (p, pα) reaction, revealing how chiral potentials influence cluster formation and matching experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces the first ab initio informed alpha knockout reaction analysis in the intermediate-mass region, linking chiral potentials to alpha clustering phenomena.

Findings

Triple differential cross section matches experimental data.

Chiral potentials predict surface and in-medium alpha-cluster features.

Comparison with antisymmetrized molecular dynamics approach shows consistency.

Abstract

We report on the first \textit{ab initio} informed $\alpha$ knock-out reaction in the intermediate-mass region, with the aim to probe the underlying chiral potential and its impact on the emergence of alpha clustering in this mass region. The theoretical predictions of the $\alpha+^{16}$O clustering in the $^{20}$Ne ground state, based on the \textit{ab initio} symmetry-adapted no-core shell model, yield a triple differential cross section for $^{20}$Ne(p, p$\alpha$)$^{16}$O that is in a remarkable agreement with the data. This allows us to examine predictions of surface and in-medium $\alpha$-cluster features from a chiral potential and to compare these to the successful antisymmetrized molecular dynamics approach.