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We apply improved nucleon-nucleon potentials up to fifth order in chiral effective field theory, along with a new analysis of the theoretical truncation errors, to study nucleon-deuteron (Nd) scattering and selected low-energy observables in 3H, 4He, and 6Li. Calculations beyond second order differ from experiment well outside the range of quantified uncertainties, providing truly unambiguous evidence for missing three-nucleon forces within the employed framework. The sizes of the required three-nucleon force contributions agree well with expectations based on Weinberg's power counting. We identify the energy range in elastic Nd scattering best suited to study three-nucleon force effects and estimate the achievable accuracy of theoretical predictions for various observables., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

We solve three-nucleon Faddeev equations with nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon forces derived consistently in the framework of chiral perturbation theory at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order in the chiral expansion. In this first investigation we include only matrix elements of the three-nucleon force for partial waves with the total two-nucleon (three-nucleon) angular momenta up to 3 (5/2). Low-energy neutron-deuteron elastic scattering and deuteron breakup reaction are studied. Emphasis is put on Ay puzzle in elastic scattering and cross sections in symmetric-space-star and neutron-neutron quasi-free-scattering breakup configurations, for which large discrepancies between data and theory have been reported., Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures

We use the newly developed Multi-Reference In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group to study all even isotopes of the calcium and nickel isotopic chains, based on two- plus three-nucleon interactions derived from chiral effective field theory. We present results for ground-state and two-neutron separation energies and quantify their theoretical uncertainties. At shell closures, we find excellent agreement with Coupled Cluster results obtained with the same Hamiltonians. Our results highlight the importance of the chiral 3N interaction to obtain a correct reproduction of experimental energy trends, and their subtle impact on the location of the neutron drip lines in the Ca and Ni chains. At the same time, we uncover and discuss deficiencies of the input Hamiltonians which need to be addressed by the next generation of chiral interactions., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

We report ab initio calculations for neutron drops in a 10 MeV external harmonic-oscillator trap using chiral nucleon-nucleon plus three-nucleon interactions. We present total binding energies, internal energies, radii and odd-even energy differences for neutron numbers N = 2 - 18 using the no-core shell model with and without importance truncation. Furthermore, we present total binding energies for N = 8, 16, 20, 28, 40, 50 obtained in a coupled-cluster approach. Comparisons with Green's Function Monte Carlo results, where available, using Argonne v8' with three-nucleon interactions reveal important dependences on the chosen Hamiltonian., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

We investigate selected static and transition properties of $^{12}$C using ab initio No-Core Shell Model (NCSM) methods with chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions. We adopt the Similarity Renormalization Group (SRG) to assist convergence including up to three-nucleon (3N) contributions. We examine the dependences of the $^{12}$C observables on the SRG evolution scale and on the model-space parameters. We obtain nearly converged low-lying excitation spectra. We compare results of the full NCSM with the Importance Truncated NCSM in large model spaces for benchmarking purposes. We highlight the effects of the chiral 3N interaction on several spectroscopic observables. The agreement of some observables with experiment is improved significantly by the inclusion of 3N interactions, e.g., the B(M1) from the first $J^\pi T = 1^+ 1$ state to the ground state. However, in some cases the agreement deteriorates, e.g., for the excitation energy of the first $1^+ 0$ state, leaving room for improved next-generation chiral Hamiltonians., Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures

We present the first ab initio construction of valence-space Hamiltonians for medium-mass nuclei based on chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions using the in-medium similarity renormalization group. When applied to the oxygen isotopes, we find experimental ground-state energies are well reproduced, including the flat trend beyond the drip line at 24O. Similarly, natural-parity spectra in 21,22,23,24O are in agreement with experiment, and we present predictions for excited states in 25,26O. The results exhibit a weak dependence on the harmonic-oscillator basis parameter and reproduce spectroscopy within the standard sd valence space., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, published version

We formulate the In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group (IM-SRG) for open-shell nuclei using a multi-reference formalism based on a generalized Wick theorem introduced in quantum chemistry. The resulting multi-reference IM-SRG (MR-IM-SRG) is used to perform the first ab initio study of even oxygen isotopes with chiral NN and 3N Hamiltonians, from the proton to the neutron drip lines. We obtain an excellent reproduction of experimental ground-state energies with quantified uncertainties, which is validated by results from the Importance-Truncated No-Core Shell Model and the Coupled Cluster method. The agreement between conceptually different many-body approaches and experiment highlights the predictive power of current chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions, and establishes the MR-IM-SRG as a promising new tool for ab initio calculations of medium-mass nuclei far from shell closures., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, v2 corresponding to published version

We use the recently proposed In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group (IM-SRG) to carry out a systematic study of closed-shell nuclei up to $\nuc{Ni}{56}$, based on chiral two- plus three-nucleon interactions. We analyze the capabilities of the IM-SRG by comparing our results for the ground-state energy to Coupled Cluster calculations, as well as to quasi-exact results from the Importance-Truncated No-Core Shell Model. Using chiral two- plus three-nucleon Hamiltonians whose resolution scales are lowered by free-space SRG evolution, we obtain good agreement with experimental binding energies in $\nuc{He}{4}$ and the closed-shell oxygen isotopes, while the calcium and nickel isotopes are somewhat overbound., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. C