Joint Seminar in Nuclear Physics: The generalized contact formalism and short-range correlations in nuclei (PhD seminar lecture)

Zoom: https://huji.zoom.us/j/83843144586?pwd=VTFyN3BRK3I4NUJHQng5eEEvVXRJQT09

Abstract:

Nuclear short-range correlations (SRCs), i.e. the probability of finding few nucleons close to each other inside the nucleus, are an integral part of the description of nuclear systems, important also for neutrino studies, neutron-star structure and for the bound nucleon structure function. High-energy electron scattering is the main experimental technique to probe SRCs, while ab-initio calculations are mostly limited to nuclear distributions of light nuclei. To study the properties of SRCs and bridge the gap between experimental and ab-initio studies, we developed a new theory, called the generalized contact formalism. In this talk I will present the original contact formalism, designed for atomic systems, and our generalization for nuclear systems. Using this formalism, we have been able to obtain a comprehensive picture of two-body SRCs, identifying and quantifying their effects on various nuclear quantities. Among these quantities are momentum distributions, two-body densities, the spectral function, the Coulomb sum-rule, photo absorption rates and electron scattering cross sections. Describing all these quantities and reactions in a single framework allows confronting electron scattering SRC data with ab-initio nuclear structure calculations and different nucleon-nucleon interactions. The contact formalism has also become an important tool used directly by leading experimental groups to simulate their experiments and analyze their data, leading to new insights based on more detailed and more accurate experimental data.