Moving away from singly-magic nuclei with Gorkov Green's function theory

Ab initio calculations of bulk nuclear properties (ground-state energies, root-mean-square charge radii and charge density distributions) are presented for seven complete isotopic chains around calcium, from argon to chromium. Calculations are performed within the Gorkov self-consistent Green's function approach at second order and make use of two state-of-the-art two- plus three-nucleon Hamiltonians, NN+3N(lnl) and NNLOsat. An overall good agreement with available experimental data is found, in particular for differential energies (charge radii) when the former (latter) interaction is employed. Remarkably, neutron magic numbers N=28,32,34 emerge and evolve following experimental trends. In contrast, pairing gaps are systematically underestimated. General features of the isotopic dependence of charge radii are also reproduced, as well as charge density distributions. A deterioration of the theoretical description is observed for certain nuclei and ascribed to the inefficient account of (static) quadrupole correlations in the present many-body truncation scheme. In order to resolve these limitations, we advocate the extension of the formalism towards incorporating breaking of rotational symmetry or, alternatively, performing a stochastic sampling of the self-energy.

Automated summary

Ab initio calculations of bulk nuclear properties are presented for seven complete isotopic chains, showing overall good agreement with experimental data, especially for differential energies and charge radii under certain interactions. Neutron magic numbers N=28,32,34 emerge and evolve, but pairing gaps are systematically underestimated, leading to deterioration in theoretical descriptions for certain nuclei.