Spin-orbit decomposition of ab initio wavefunctions

Although the modern shell-model picture of atomic nuclei is built from single-particle orbits with good total angular momentum $j$, leading to $j$-$j$ coupling, phenomenological models suggested decades ago that for $0p$-shell nuclides a simpler picture can be realized via coupling of total spin $S$ and total orbital angular momentum $L$. I revisit this idea with large-basis, no-core shell model (NCSM) calculations using modern \textit{ab initio} two-body interactions, and dissect the resulting wavefunctions into their component $L$- and $S$-components. Remarkably, there is broad agreement with calculations using the phenomenological Cohen-Kurath forces, despite a gap of nearly fifty years and six orders of magnitude in basis dimensions. I suggest $L$-$S$ may be a useful tool for analyzing \textit{ab initio} wavefunctions of light nuclei, for example in the case of rotational bands.

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