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arXiv:2510.19940 · Physical Review C

Computing nuclear response functions with time-dependent coupled-cluster theory

Francesca Bonaiti, Cody J. Balos, Kyle Godbey, Gaute Hagen, Thomas Papenbrock, Carol S. Woodward

Published Dec 11, 2025• 3 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We compute nuclear response functions by solving the time-dependent A-body Schrödinger equation, recording the time-dependent transition moment and extracting spectral information via Fourier transforms. The solution of the time-dependent many-body problem accounts for correlations on top of the mean field by taking advantage of a time-dependent formulation of coupled-cluster theory. As a validation, we focus on electric dipole transitions in $^4$He and $^{16}$O and compare moments of the response function distribution to the results of an equivalent static framework, finding negligible discrepancies. We investigate how proton and neutron densities evolve in time, and we see the traditional picture of soft and giant dipole resonances as collective oscillations of protons and neutrons emerging from our calculations in $^{16}$O and $^{24}$O. This method also allows us to investigate the behavior of the nucleus in the presence of a strong electric field. In that regime, the behavior of the system becomes chaotic. Qualitatively, the spectral information obtained in this limit is in line with previous time-dependent mean-field results.

DOI
10.1103/scn2-dnyg

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We compute nuclear response functions by solving the time-dependent A-body Schrödinger equation, recording the time-dependent transition moment and extracting spectral information via Fourier transforms. The solution of the time-dependent many-body problem accounts for correlations on top of the mean field by taking advantage of a time-dependent formulation of coupled-cluster theory. As a validation, we focus on electric dipole transitions in 4^44He and 16^{16}16O and compare moments of the response function distribution to the results of an equivalent static framework, finding negligible discrepancies. We investigate how proton and neutron densities evolve in time, and we see the traditional picture of soft and giant dipole resonances as collective oscillations of protons and neutrons emerging from our calculations in 16^{16}16O and 24^{24}24O. This method also allows us to investigate the behavior of the nucleus in the presence of a strong electric field. In that regime, the behavior of the system becomes chaotic. Qualitatively, the spectral information obtained in this limit is in line with previous time-dependent mean-field results.
Abstract. Using the time-dependent theory of quantum mechanics, we investigate nuclear electric dipole responses. The time evolution of a wave function is explicitly calculated in the coordinatespace representation. The particle continuum is treated with the absorbing boundary condition. Calculated time-dependent quantities are transformed into those of familiar energy representation. We apply the method to a three-body model for 11 Li and to the mean-field model for 22 O, then discuss properties of E1 response. TIME-DEPENDENT METHOD FOR NUCLEAR RESPONSES Atomic nuclei exhibit a variety of responses to different experimental probes; Coulomb and nuclear excitations, spin- and isospin-dependent probes, high- and low-energy reactions. In order to investigate properties of these nuclear excitations, it is useful to study response function for a probe (external) operator of interest. Normally, these quantum many-body problems are theoretically studied using the energy representation, in which calculations are carried out by either diagonalizing the Hamiltonian matrices or solving differential equations with a fixed energy. These approaches are advantageous when we are interested in states within a limited energy range. However, when we calculate
Linear density response functions are calculated for symmetric nuclear matter of normal density by time-evolving two-time Green's functions in real time. Of particular interest is the effect of correlations. The system is therefore initially time-evolved with a collision term calculated in a direct Born approximation until fully correlated. An external time-dependent potential is then applied. The ensuing density fluctuations are recorded to calculate the density response. This method was previously used by Kwong and Bonitz for studying plasma oscillations in a correlated electron gas. The energy-weighted sum-rule for the response function is guaranteed by using conserving self-energy insertions as the method then generates the full vertex-functions. These can alternatively be calculated by solving a Bethe -Salpeter equation as done in works by Bozek et al. The (first order) mean field is derived from a momentum-dependent (non-local) interaction while 2 nd order self-energies are calculated using a particle-hole two-body effective (or residual) interaction given by a gaussian local potential. We show results of calculations of the response function S(ɷ, q 0 ) for q 0 = 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 fm -1 . Comparison is made with the nucleons being un-correlated i.e. with only the first order mean field included. We discuss the relation of our work with the Landau quasi-particle theory as applied to nuclear systems by Babu and Brown and followers.
Some recent advancements of the nuclear many-body theory and selected results on nuclear giant and pygmy resonances are presented. The theory is compactly reviewed, with a special focus on the emergent scale of the quasiparticle-vibration coupling (qPVC), which carries the order parameter associated with the qPVC vertex, and an efficient treatment of the nuclear many-body problem organized around the qPVC hierarchy. Self-consistent numerical solutions of the relativistic Bethe-Salpeter-Dyson equation for the nuclear response function in medium-heavy nuclei are discussed. The presented update on the pygmy dipole resonance focuses on establishing the formation of its two-component structure as a result of the fragmentation of the low-energy dipole mode due to the qPVC and its mixing with the similarly fragmented giant dipole resonance. The centroid of the isoscalar giant monopole resonance is also linked to qPVC effects, particularly to its sensitivity to the coupling of the collective breathing mode to the lowest quadrupole vibrations, which is enhanced by quadrupole collectivity. The resolution of the long-standing "fluffiness" puzzle regarding the compressibility of open-shell tin isotopes is summarized. The recently developed thermal variant of the superfluid response theory is briefly introduced and continuously linked to the description of the isoscalar monopole response at finite temperature with the prospect of refining the temperature-dependent nuclear equation of state.
A configuration-interaction time-dependent density functional theory (CI-TDDFT) for nuclear dynamics is developed. In this framework, the correlated nuclear many-body wave function is expanded in terms of time-dependent many-particle configurations built from a common set of orthonormal single-particle states. The equations of motion for both the expansion coefficients and the single-particle states are derived self-consistently using the Dirac-Frenkel time-dependent variational principle. This formulation extends conventional time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) by incorporating configuration mixing and beyond-mean-field correlations, while preserving energy and particle-number conservation. As an illustrative application, the method is implemented using the relativistic point-coupling functional PC-PK1 in the particle-hole channel and a monopole pairing interaction in the particle-particle channel, and is applied to the study of isoscalar giant monopole resonance in 58^{58}58Ni and 60^{60}60Ni. Numerical tests show that both the total energy and particle number are conserved, with relative deviations within 4×10−44\times 10^{-4}4×10−4 during the time evolution. Compared with conventional TDDFT, CI-TDDFT yields broader strength distributions for giant monopole resonances while keeping the main peak positions close to those from TDDFT. This broadening is associated with configuration mixing in the valence space and suggests a coupling of the monopole oscillation to additional collective degrees of freedom. These results demonstrate the potential of CI-TDDFT as a quantum, microscopic beyond-mean-field framework for nuclear dynamics.
Some recent advancements of the nuclear many-body theory and selected results on nuclear giant and pygmy resonances are presented. The theory is compactly reviewed, with a special focus on the emergent scale of the quasiparticle-vibration coupling (qPVC), which carries the order parameter associated with the qPVC vertex, and an efficient treatment of the nuclear many-body problem organized around the qPVC hierarchy. Self-consistent numerical solutions of the relativistic Bethe-Salpeter-Dyson equation for the nuclear response function in medium-heavy nuclei are discussed. The presented update on the pygmy dipole resonance focuses on establishing the formation of its two-component structure as a result of the fragmentation of the low-energy dipole mode due to the qPVC and its mixing with the similarly fragmented giant dipole resonance. The centroid of the isoscalar giant monopole resonance is also linked to qPVC effects, particularly to its sensitivity to the coupling of the collective breathing mode to the lowest quadrupole vibrations, which is enhanced by quadrupole collectivity. The resolution of the long-standing “fluffiness” puzzle regarding the compressibility of open-shell tin isotopes is summarized. The recently developed thermal variant of the superfluid response theory is briefly introduced and continuously linked to the description of the isoscalar monopole response at finite temperature with the prospect of refining the temperature-dependent nuclear equation of state.
Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) provides a successful approach to calculate excitation energies of atomic and molecular systems. In part I of this work we present a double-pole approximation (DPA) to the response equations of TDDFT. The double-pole approximation provides an exact description of systems with two strongly coupled excitations which are isolated from the rest of the spectrum. In contrast to the traditional single- pole approximation of TDDFT the DPA also yields corrections to the Kohn-Sham oscillator strengths. Several critical pole separations can be identified, e.g. we find that the pole coupling can cause transitions to vanish entirely from the optical spectrum. We also demonstrate how to invert the double-pole solution which allows us to predict matrix elements of the exchange- correlation kernel fxc from experimental input. This can serve as benchmark for the construction of future approximations for the kernel fxc. Reduced density matrix functional theory (RDMFT) has emerged recently as promising candidate to treat strongly correlated electronic many-body systems beyond traditional density functional theory (DFT). The research within RDMFT was so far focussed on the static theory. In this work we attempt some first steps towards a time-dependent generalization of RDMFT. In part II we derive equations of motion for natural orbitals and occupation numbers. Using the equation of motion for the occupation numbers we show that an adiabatic extension of presently known ground-state functionals of static RDMFT always leads to occupation numbers which are constant in time. From the stationary conditions of the equations of motion for the N-body correlations (correlated parts of the N-body matrices) we derive a new class of ground-state functionals which can be used in static RDMFT. Applications are presented for a one-dimensional model system where the time-dependent many-body Schrödinger equation can be propagated numerically. We use optimal control theory to find optimized laser pulses for transitions in a model for atomic Helium. From the numerically exact correlated wavefunction we extract the exact time evolution of natural orbitals and occupation numbers for (i) laser-driven Helium and (ii) electron-ion scattering. Part III of this work considers time-dependent quantum transport within TDDFT. We present an algorithm for the calculation of extended eigenstates of single- particle Hamiltonians which is especially tailored to a finite-difference discretization of the Schrödinger equation. We consider the propagation of finite mesoscopic systems and demonstrate the limitations of such an approach. To overcome the shortcomings of a description of quantum transport in terms of finite systems we develop a time-propagation scheme for extended states which utilizes a mixed basis representation. Our discretization scheme allows to treat central device and lead regions on the same footing thus preventing artificial reflections at grid boundaries.