Innovative Computational Methods In Nuclear Many Body Problems Towards A New Generation Of Physics In Finite Quantum Systems

The recent rapid innovations in supercomputer technology are changing the concepts of numerical calculations employed in solving a wide variety of nuclear many-body problems. The purpose of the XVII RCNP International Symposium on Innovative Computational Methods in Nuclear Many-Body Problems (INNOCOM97) was to discuss the frontiers of various computational methods and to exchange ideas in wide fields of nuclear physics. The subjects discussed at the symposium covered almost all the areas of nuclear physics.

The development of ion traps has spurred significant experimental activities able to link measurable quantities to the most fundamental aspects of physics. The first chapter sets the scene and motivates the use of ion traps with an in-depth survey of the low-energy electroweak sector of the standard model amenable to precision test. The next parts then introduce and review aspects of the theory, simulation and experimental implementation of such traps. Last but not least, two important applications, namely high resolution mass spectrometry in Penning traps and tests of fundamental physics - such as the CPT theorem - with trapped antiprotons are discussed. This volume bridges the gap between the graduate textbook and the research literature and will assist graduate students and newcomers to the field in quickly entering and mastering the subject matter.

Computation is essential to our modern understanding of nuclear systems. Although simple analytical models might guide our intuition, the complex ity of the nuclear many-body problem and the ever-increasing precision of experimental results require large-scale numerical studies for a quantitative understanding. Despite their importance, many nuclear physics computations remain something of a black art. A practicing nuclear physicist might be familiar with one or another type of computation, but there is no way to systemati cally acquire broad experience. Although computational methods and results are often presented in the literature, it is often difficult to obtain the working codes. More often than not, particular numerical expertise resides in one or a few individuals, who must be contacted informally to generate results; this option becomes unavailable when these individuals leave the field. And while the teaching of modern nuclear physics can benefit enormously from realistic computer simulations, there has been no source for much of the important material. The present volume, the second of two, is an experiment aimed at address ing some of these problems. We have asked recognized experts in various aspects of computational nuclear physics to codify their expertise in indi vidual chapters. Each chapter takes the form of a brief description of the relevant physics (with appropriate references to the literature), followed by a discussion of the numerical methods used and their embodiment in a FOR TRAN code. The chapters also contain sample input and test runs, as well as suggestions for further exploration.

The quantum nuclear many-body problem lies at the heart of low-energy nuclear physics and represents a fundamental challenge to our understanding of the universe. This book presents various many-body techniques used to describe nuclei from the basic interactions among nucleons. It provides a brief description of modern nuclear forces and their application in finite nuclei. It also includes an overview of several many-body techniques used in the field, including quantum Monte Carlo, configuration interaction, and coupled cluster methods. The book covers the key algorithms necessary to build out and/or use computer codes for simple problems. It also focuses on important high-performance computing aspects, modern computing languages, parallelization methods and libraries, and basic quantum many-body training.

Study Edition

This graduate-level text collects and synthesizes a series of ten lectures on the nuclear quantum many-body problem. Starting from our current understanding of the underlying forces, it presents recent advances within the field of lattice quantum chromodynamics before going on to discuss effective field theories, central many-body methods like Monte Carlo methods, coupled cluster theories, the similarity renormalization group approach, Green’s function methods and large-scale diagonalization approaches. Algorithmic and computational advances show particular promise for breakthroughs in predictive power, including proper error estimates, a better understanding of the underlying effective degrees of freedom and of the respective forces at play. Enabled by recent improvements in theoretical, experimental and numerical techniques, the state-of-the art applications considered in this volume span the entire range, from our smallest components – quarks and gluons as the mediators of the strong force – to the computation of the equation of state for neutron star matter. The lectures presented provide an in-depth exposition of the underlying theoretical and algorithmic approaches as well details of the numerical implementation of the methods discussed. Several also include links to numerical software and benchmark calculations, which readers can use to develop their own programs for tackling challenging nuclear many-body problems.