The current paradigm to describe the nuclear interaction is within the frame of Chiral Effective Field Theory (ₓEFT) which organizes contributions to observables in a serie of decreasing importance. It happens that the leading contribution already requires to solve exactly the Schrödinger equation with a particular Hamiltonian. The same requirement is at play in pionless EFT which considers only nucleonic degrees of freedom. Such calculations are numerically intractable for A-body observables with A >> 10. One must design an additional expansion and truncation for many-body observables. In this thesis, non-perturbative approximations on the basis self-consistent Green’s function (SCGF) and on many-body perturbation theory (MBPT) are considered together with a pionless EFT. The goal of the present thesis is to investigate, in such framework, the renormalization invariance of many-body observables computed in A-body sectors with A >> 10. Hopefully the lessons learnt can be extended to ₓEFT. Analysis of numerical calculations realized with a state-of-the-art SCGF code reveals a critical numerical approximation leading to renormalization dependent observables. A necessary fix is proposed and must be implemented before any calculations based on SCGF and EFT in the future. This emphasizes the criticality of numerical approximations for any calculation within a pionless EFT. At the same time, renormalization invariance of observables computed within MBPT is studied formally, opening the path to formulate the renormalization of a wide range of many-body truncation schemes in the future.
The current paradigm to describe the nuclear interaction is within the frame of Chiral Effective Field Theory (ₓEFT) which organizes contributions to observables in a serie of decreasing importance. It happens that the leading contribution already requires to solve exactly the Schrödinger equation with a particular Hamiltonian. The same requirement is at play in pionless EFT which considers only nucleonic degrees of freedom. Such calculations are numerically intractable for A-body observables with A >> 10. One must design an additional expansion and truncation for many-body observables. In this thesis, non-perturbative approximations on the basis self-consistent Green’s function (SCGF) and on many-body perturbation theory (MBPT) are considered together with a pionless EFT. The goal of the present thesis is to investigate, in such framework, the renormalization invariance of many-body observables computed in A-body sectors with A >> 10. Hopefully the lessons learnt can be extended to ₓEFT. Analysis of numerical calculations realized with a state-of-the-art SCGF code reveals a critical numerical approximation leading to renormalization dependent observables. A necessary fix is proposed and must be implemented before any calculations based on SCGF and EFT in the future. This emphasizes the criticality of numerical approximations for any calculation within a pionless EFT. At the same time, renormalization invariance of observables computed within MBPT is studied formally, opening the path to formulate the renormalization of a wide range of many-body truncation schemes in the future.
Indépendance de la renormalisation d'observables à N corps dans une théorie effective des champs sans pions À l’heure actuelle, l’interaction entre nucléons est décrite par une théorie effective des champs chiraux. Dans ce cadre théorique, les contributions aux observables nucléaires sont organisées en suite d’importance décroissante. En particulier, le calcul de la contribution principale nécessite de résoudre exactement l’équation de Schrödinger pour un certain Hamiltonien. Une description alternative de l’interaction nucléaire, dite théorie effective des champs sans pion, considère uniquement des nucléons comme degrés de liberté et mène à la même nécessité d’une résolution exacte de l’équation de Schrödinger. En pratique, de tels calculs sont irréalistes, même numériquement, pour des observables à N corps dès que N >> 10. Par conséquent, des approximations supplémentaires doivent être développées. Dans cette thèse, des approximations non-perturbatives basées sur des fonctions de Green auto-cohérentes (SCGF) ainsi que des approximations basées sur des théories des perturbations à N corps (MBPT) sont considérées dans le cadre de la théorie effective des champs sans pion. Le but de cette thèse est d’étudier l’invariance par le groupe de renormalisation d’observables à N corps calculées avec ces approximations supplémentaires. L’espoir étant de pouvoir ensuite étendre les conclusions tirées au cas de la théorie effective des champs chiraux. Dans le cas des approximations SCGF, l’analyse des résultats numériques produits avec un code à l’état de l’art révèle une instabilité critique amenant à des observables dépendant de la renormalisation. Un correctif est proposé et devra être implémenté avant tout futur calcul SCGF au sein de la théorie effective des champs sans pion. Cette étude révèle l’importance critique des approximations numériques sur l’invariance par le groupe de renormalisation des observables. Dans le cas des approximations perturbatives basées sur MBPT, une étude formelle ouvre la voie pour dériver, de manière systématique, une renormalisation adéquate pour un large ensemble d’approximation à N corps.
Abstract Current models of inter-nucleon interactions are built within the frame of Effective Field Theories (EFTs). Contrary to traditional nuclear potentials, EFT interactions require a renormalization of their parameters in order to derive meaningful estimations of the observables. In this paper, a renormalization procedure is designed in connection with many-body approximations applicable to large- A A systems and formulated within the frame of many-body perturbation theory. The procedure is shown to generate counterterms that are independent of the targeted A A -body sector. As an example, the procedure is applied to the random phase approximation. This work constitutes one step towards the design of a practical EFT for many-body systems.
The renormalization of the effective field theories (EFTs) in many-body systems is the most pressing and challenging problem in modern nuclear ab initio calculation. For general non-relativistic EFTs, we prove that the renormalization group (RG) invariance can be achieved if and only if all single-particle momenta are regulated with a universal cutoff Λ. For a numerical demonstration, we construct a series of N^{2}LO chiral forces with Λvarying from 250 MeV to 400 MeV. With all low energy constants fixed in two- and three-nucleon systems, we reproduce the experimental binding energies of ^{4}He and ^{16}O nearly independently of Λ. In contrast, all recent nuclear EFT constructions regulate the relative momenta for Galilean invariance, thus inherently break the RG invariance. This explains the unpleasantly strong cutoff-dependences observed in recent ab initio calculations. Our method can also be used to build RG-invariant EFTs with non-perturbative interactions.
Abstract These lectures are a pedagogical—not comprehensive—introduction to the applications of effective field theory (EFT) in the context of nuclear and atomic physics. A common feature of these applications is the interplay between non-perturbative physics (needed at leading order to produce non-relativistic bound states and resonances) and controlled perturbative corrections (crucial for predictive power). The essential ideas are illustrated with the simplest nuclear EFT, pionless EFT, which contains only contact interactions and, with minor changes, can be adapted to certain atomic systems. This EFT exploits the two-body unitarity limit, where renormalization leads to discrete scale invariance in systems of three and more bodies. Remarkably complex structures then arise from very simple leading-order interactions. It briefly describes some of the challenges and rewards of including long-range forces—pion exchange in chiral EFT for nuclear systems or Van der Waals forces between atoms.
Pionful nuclear effective field theory (NEFT) in the two-nucleon sector is examined from the Wilsonian renormalization group point of view. The pion exchange is cut off at the floating cutoff scale, Λ, with the short-distance part being represented as contact interactions in accordance with the general principle of renormalization. We derive the nonperturbative renormalization group equations in the leading order of the nonrelativistic approximation in the operator space including up to O(p2) and find the nontrivial fixed points in the 1S0 and 3S1--3D1 channels which are identified with those in the pionless NEFT. The scaling dimensions, which determine the power counting, of the contact interactions at the nontrivial fixed points are also identified with those in the pionless NEFT. We emphasize the importance of the separation of the pion exchange into the short-distance and the long-distance parts, since a part of the former is nonperturbative while the latter is perturbative.
Quantum computers offer the potential to simulate nuclear processes that are classically intractable. With the goal of understanding the necessary quantum resources to realize this potential, we employ state-of-the-art Hamiltonian-simulation methods, and conduct a thorough algorithmic analysis, to estimate the qubit and gate costs to simulate low-energy effective field theories (EFTs) of nuclear physics. Within the framework of nuclear lattice EFT, we obtain simulation costs for the leading-order pionless and pionful EFTs. For the latter, we consider both static pions represented by a one-pion-exchange potential between the nucleons, and dynamical pions represented by relativistic bosonic fields coupled to non-relativistic nucleons. Within these models, we examine the resource costs for the tasks of time evolution and energy estimation for physically relevant scales. We account for model errors associated with truncating either long-range interactions in the one-pion-exchange EFT or the pionic Hilbert space in the dynamical-pion EFT, and for algorithmic errors associated with product-formula approximations and quantum phase estimation. We find that the pionless EFT is the least costly to simulate, followed by the one-pion-exchange theory, then the dynamical-pion theory. We demonstrate how symmetries of the low-energy nuclear Hamiltonians can be utilized to obtain tighter error bounds. By retaining the locality of nucleonic interactions when mapped to qubits, we achieve reduced circuit depth and substantial parallelization. In the process, we develop new methods to bound the algorithmic error for classes of fermionic number-preserving Hamiltonians, and obtain tighter Trotter error bounds by explicitly computing nested commutators of Hamiltonian terms. Compared to previous estimates for the pionless EFT, our results represent an improvement by several orders of magnitude.