Light Nuclei embedded in a Nuclear Medium: Clustering and Mott Transitions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how light nuclear clusters form and dissolve in nuclear media, revealing density-dependent behaviors and Mott transition characteristics relevant for nuclear physics and astrophysics.

Contribution

It introduces a microscopic in-medium approach to systematically study light cluster behavior, including formation, dissolution, and Mott transitions in nuclear matter.

Findings

Deuteron survives at higher densities than alpha particles.

Deuteron radius expands significantly before dissolution.

Alpha particle Mott density is lower in neutron-rich matter.

Abstract

The clustering of nucleons is a fundamental phenomenon with broad implications for nuclear physics and astrophysics. In this work, we employ a microscopic in-medium few-body approach to systematically investigate the formation and dissolution of light clusters (deuteron, $\rm{^3H}$, $\rm{^3He}$, $\alpha$-particle) embedded in nuclear medium. The medium-modified cluster structures under the Pauli blocking and the picture of Mott transitions in nuclear medium are discussed in detail. We find that the weakly bound deuteron survives to higher densities as compared with the more compact $\alpha$-particle in symmetric nuclear matter, with its r.m.s. radius expanding markedly prior to its dissolution. Moreover, the Mott density of $\alpha$-particle is slightly lower in neutron-rich matter than in symmetric matter. These results may provide useful constraints for the formation of light clusters at nuclear surface and the cluster yields in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions.