Nuclear Matter and Finite Nuclei: Relativistic Thomas-Fermi Approximation Versus Relativistic Mean-Field Approach

TL;DR

This paper compares the relativistic Thomas-Fermi approximation and the relativistic mean-field approach for modeling finite nuclei, assessing their accuracy against experimental data and discussing their applicability in nuclear physics.

Contribution

It provides a detailed comparison between two theoretical models for finite nuclei using the same nuclear interaction, highlighting their differences and similarities.

Findings

Both models produce comparable results for finite nuclei.

The comparison reveals specific strengths and limitations of each approach.

Experimental data helps validate the theoretical predictions.

Abstract

The Thomas-Fermi approximation is a powerful method that has been widely used to describe atomic structures, finite nuclei, and nonuniform matter in supernovae and neutron-star crusts. Nonuniform nuclear matter at subnuclear density is assumed to be composed of a lattice of heavy nuclei surrounded by dripped nucleons, and the Wigner-Seitz cell is commonly introduced to simplify the calculations. The self-consistent Thomas--Fermi approximation can be employed to study both a nucleus surrounded by nucleon gas in the Wigner-Seitz cell and an isolated nucleus in the nuclide chart. A detailed comparison is made between the self-consistent Thomas-Fermi approximation and the relativistic mean-field approach for the description of finite nuclei, based on the same nuclear interaction. These results are then examined using experimental data from the corresponding nuclei.