Ab Initio Path to Heavy Nuclei

We present the first ab initio calculations of nuclear ground states up into the domain of heavy nuclei, spanning the range from 16-O to 132-Sn based on two- plus three-nucleon interactions derived within chiral effective field theory. We employ the similarity renormalization group for preparing the Hamiltonian and use coupled-cluster theory to solve the many-body problem for nuclei with closed sub-shells. Through an analysis of theoretical uncertainties resulting from various truncations in this framework, we identify and eliminate the technical hurdles that previously inhibited the step beyond medium-mass nuclei, allowing for reliable validations of nuclear Hamiltonians in the heavy regime. Following this path we show that chiral Hamiltonians qualitatively reproduce the systematics of nuclear ground-state energies up to the neutron-rich Sn isotopes.

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