PaperPanorama

Nuclear Theory·nucl-th

Friday·August 28, 2026

12 papers—6 primary·6 cross-listed

All12Primary6Cross-lists6
  1. 01

    [Submitted on 26 Aug 2026]

    Frontier Questions and Emerging Directions in Nuclear Science and Technology

    Yu-Gang Ma

    Recent advances in nuclear science and technology are being driven simultaneously by fundamental questions on strong interactions and many-body emergence, by the rapid expansion of rare-isotope capabilities and multimessenger astronomy, and by growing societal demand for clean energy, precision medicine, and strategic technologies. This review reorganizes the "ten frontier questions" for nuclear science and technology, offering a scholarly roadmap accessible to a broad audience. We first discuss the fundamental frontiers, including the nonperturbative origin of hadronic mass, the properties of QCD matter under extreme conditions, the multiscale evolution of nuclear structure from light nuclei to the superheavy region, the physics of exotic nuclei and open quantum systems near the driplines, and the nuclear-astrophysical origin of the elements. We then emphasize enabling methodologies, especially modern \textit{ab initio} and continuum-coupled theories, advanced accelerator and detector platforms, precision mass spectrometry, and the emerging role of data-driven and artificial-intelligence-assisted methodologies. Finally, we review translational and strategic directions, including advanced fission and fusion energy systems, cross-disciplinary nuclear technologies such as radiomedicine, isotope science, and nuclear clocks, as well as the long-term challenges of fuel cycles, waste management, and international cooperation. Rather than serving as an exhaustive bibliography of each subfield, this article aims to provide an integrative research framework that connects frontier scientific problems with enabling infrastructure, application scenarios, and long-range strategic planning.

    Comments:
    32 pages, 13 figures
    Subjects:
    Nuclear Theory (nucl-th); Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex)
    arXiv:
    2608.26207 [pdf]
    0 citations
  2. 02

    [Submitted on 26 Aug 2026]

    Single-particle potentials in asymmetric nuclear matter within the LOCV framework

    Zahra Ziarati · Hamidreza Moshfegh

    The single-particle potentials and effective masses of protons and neutrons in asymmetric nuclear matter are investigated within the lowest-order constrained variational (LOCV) method. The dependence of these quantities on momentum, density, and isospin asymmetry is studied using the and nucleon-nucleon interactions, with the effects of three-body forces also examined. The neutron and proton single-particle potentials exhibit a systematic splitting with increasing asymmetry, while their decomposition into different interaction channels identifies the dominant contributions to the in-medium interaction. The symmetry potential decreases with increasing momentum and shows a pronounced dependence on density and three-body forces, particularly at low momentum. The neutron-proton effective-mass splitting increases with asymmetry, with the neutron effective mass larger than the proton effective mass. The calculated symmetry potential is also compared with results from other microscopic and phenomenological approaches and with the empirically constrained Lane potential, showing a consistent decreasing trend with increasing kinetic energy. These results provide a microscopic, state-dependent single-particle potential for asymmetric nuclear matter, with its momentum, density, and asymmetry dependence determined directly from the underlying two and three-body interactions.

    Comments:
    14 pages, 13 figures
    Subjects:
    Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
    arXiv:
    2608.26343 [pdf]
    0 citations
  3. 03

    [Submitted on 27 Aug 2026]

    From twelve to three active qubits: Ancilla-recycled rodeo filtering for trapped neutron-proton scattering

    Myeong-Hwan Mun🇰🇷 · Jubin Park🇰🇷 · Myung-Ki Cheoun🇰🇷 · Eunja Ha🇰🇷

    Rodeo filtering applies \(R\) ancilla-assisted energy interrogations. If all measurements are deferred, a static realization requires \(n_s+R\) active qubits for an \(n_s\)-qubit system, whereas mid-circuit measurement and reset allow one ancilla to be recycled and reduce the width to \(n_s+1\) without changing the ideal filter. We demonstrate this compression for a trapped-spectrum input to model neutron--proton scattering. A static \(R=10\) circuit on IonQ Forte-1 uses 12 active qubits, while a dynamic circuit on IBM Aachen uses only three, a 75\% reduction. The controlled interleaved IBM scan gives \(\Delta E_c=-0.017\pm0.507\keV\), comparable to the static result \(-0.568\pm0.694\keV\). Mapping these centers through the finite-confinement modified effective range expansion (MERE) gives \(\mathcal K_{3.7}=p\cot\delta_{0,3.7} =0.13419\pm0.00020~\mathrm{fm}^{-1}\) for IonQ and \(0.13435\pm0.00015~\mathrm{fm}^{-1}\) for the interleaved IBM scan, both consistent with the exact value \(0.13436~\mathrm{fm}^{-1}\). Both implementations retain complete four-configuration support and therefore reproduce the exact \(4\times4\) effective-space level by sample-based quantum diagonalization. Three IBM batches nevertheless expose run-dependent center variations beyond finite-shot fluctuations, while the postselection attenuation is more stable. Ancilla recycling therefore makes the rodeo width independent of \(R\), freeing qubits for the nuclear register while preserving a finite-confinement scattering input, but exchanges spatial resources for mid-circuit latency and repeatability requirements.

    Comments:
    14 pages, 5 figures
    Subjects:
    Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
    arXiv:
    2608.26569 [pdf]
    0 citations
  4. 04

    [Submitted on 27 Aug 2026]

    Coupled-channel scattering from artificial confinement

    Tafat Weiss Attia · Itay Horin · Betzalel Bazak

    Artificial confinement encodes continuum scattering information in discrete, bound-state-like spectra, allowing reaction observables to be extracted with finite-basis or finite-domain methods. We apply this strategy to a two-channel cluster model of He with open H+p and He+n channels. We extract coupled-channel observables from spectra generated by a harmonic-oscillator (HO) trap, a spherical hard wall, and, within a single-partial-wave truncation, a periodic cubic box. The three geometries are formulated in a unified quantization-condition framework and benchmarked against a continuum -matrix calculation. Above the second-channel threshold, several confined levels at a common scattering energy are combined in an overdetermined fit to determine two phase shifts and an inelasticity. Without Coulomb interactions, all three geometries yield consistent results for the and partial waves. With Coulomb interactions in the charged H+p channel, the HO and spherical-wall results also agree closely with the continuum reference. A Monte Carlo propagation study shows that spectral uncertainties are amplified near trap-function poles and along poorly conditioned directions associated with the inelasticity and phase-shift difference, whereas the phase-shift sum remains comparatively robust. These results provide a controlled benchmark for confinement-based scattering methods and delineate their strengths and limitations for future few-body and ab initio reaction calculations.

    Subjects:
    Nuclear Theory (nucl-th); Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
    arXiv:
    2608.26865 [pdf]
    0 citations
  5. 05

    [Submitted on 27 Aug 2026]

    Optimizing artificial neural networks for dipole strength predictions in light nuclei

    Tim Egert · Weiguang Jiang · Sonia Bacca

    We present an optimized artificial neural network approach for predicting electric dipole strength functions in nuclei with . Building upon a previous global study [Phys.Rev.C (2025) 5, L051308], we focus here on the region of light nuclei where dipole responses are more structured. The new network incorporates a two-stage training process, a learned embedding of the proton number, explicit low-energy dipole onsets, uncertainty-weighted training, and high-energy regularization. Ensemble predictions show improved stability and substantially reduced variability across independently initialized networks compared with the earlier global neural network. Tests on selected isotopes withheld from training show that, for elements represented in the training set, the optimized network captures the main isotope dependent dipole strength systematics. As a further test, we compute electric dipole polarizabilities for selected light nuclei and compare them with literature values revealing a pronounced sensitivity to the covered energy interval. The resulting set of continuous electric dipole strength functions for nuclei with provides a practical complement to existing tabulated photonuclear databases and is particularly suited for applications requiring smooth response functions over broad energy intervals. As an application, we provide an update on the electric dipole polarizability of Be.

    Comments:
    14 pages, 5 figures, including Supplemental Material
    Subjects:
    Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
    arXiv:
    2608.26988 [pdf]
    0 citations
  6. 06

    [Submitted on 27 Aug 2026]

    Scale Invariance and Compact Star Matter

    Hyun Kyu Lee🇰🇷 · Won-Gi Paeng🇰🇷

    We present discussions on the possibility of emerging hidden scale symmetry, as a pseudo-conformal phase in super dense baryonic matter, using the velocity of sound as a criterion for a scale symmetry window in hadronic dense matter. In the density dependent mean field approach à la Brown-Rho scaling, it has been observed that the interplay between vector mesons and , one of the strongly correlated effects between hadrons, is nontrivial such that the trace of the energy momentum tensor becomes density-independent in the super dense regime and the sound velocity approaches the conformal sound velocity for the pseudo-conformal phase. It is suggested that in the pseudo conformal phase the rearrangement terms induced by density dependent couplings do not spoil the hidden scale symmetry in the compact star matter. We elaborate further on the astrophysically observable quantities of the compact stars and the implications for the parity doubling and the quark-hadron transitions.

    Comments:
    22 pages, 3 figures. A tribute to Mannque Rho
    Subjects:
    Nuclear Theory (nucl-th); High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE); High Energy Physics — Phenomenology (hep-ph)
    arXiv:
    2608.27193 [pdf]
    0 citations

Affiliations

first authorsco-authorsvia INSPIRE