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We propose a new theoretical framework to investigate the properties of finite nuclei based on an extended Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (eNJL) model, where the Dirac sea, the spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, and the quark degrees of freedom are considered by extending the SU(3) NJL model and treating baryons as clusters of quarks. The eNJL model can then be readily adopted to examine the matter states ranging from baryonic matter to quark matter in a unified manner. In this work, by assuming spherically symmetric finite nuclei and neglecting the center-of-mass or rotational corrections, we systematically investigate the properties of finite nuclei based on the eNJL model with additional pairing correlations. It is found that our model generally reproduces the binding energies of the 2495 nuclei ($A>2$) from the 2016 Atomic Mass Evaluation (AME2016) with the root-mean-square deviations $5.38$ MeV. The deviations are mainly attributed to the too large shell gaps at magic numbers $N(Z) =28$, 50, and 82 as well as the spurious shell closures at $N(Z)=34$, 58, and 92. Meanwhile, the obtained charge radii of 906 nuclei are systematically smaller than the experimental values with root-mean-square deviations $0.127$ fm. In our future study, we expect to reduce the uncertainties of our predictions by carefully calibrating the density dependence of coupling constants and considering deformations with microscopic collective corrections from the nucleons in the Fermi sea and quarks in the Dirac sea.

In hypernuclear systems, interactions involving nucleons and hyperons are intricately influenced by the surrounding particles, particularly by the density and isospin feature of the nuclear medium. In this work, the relativistic mean-field (RMF) theory is adopted to describe the structure of several typical $ \Xi^{-} $ hypernuclei. New sets of $\Xi N$ effective interactions, by taking a density-dependent meson-nucleon/hyperon coupling perspective, are developed by fitting experimental data on the $\Xi^{-}$ hyperon $1s$ and $1p$ state separation energy of $^{15}_{\Xi^{-}}$C. It is found that the density-dependent behavior of meson-hyperon coupling strengths sensitively affects the description of hyperon single-particle levels, which play a crucial role in the consistent description of the theoretical and experimental separation energies of $\Xi^{-}$ $1s$ and $1p$ states in $^{15}_{\Xi^{-}}$C. In fact, the density-dependent meson-baryon coupling strengths introduce additional rearrangement contributions in the hyperon self-energy. Correspondingly, detailed forms of density dependence in these coupling strengths and different consideration of meson-baryon coupling channels will impact the hyperon single-particle properties within hypernuclei. Especially with the additional inclusion of isovector scalar $\delta$ meson, the significant enhancement of rearrangement terms in the effective interaction DD-ME$ \delta $ impacts the shape of the hyperon potential and alters the characteristics of the isovector channel dynamics balance in the effective nuclear force. Such effects may be crucial for describing hyperon separation energies in specific $\Xi^{-}$ hypernuclei such as $^{12}_{\Xi^{-}}$Be and in hypernuclei with higher mass numbers. Relevant research underscores the importance of precisely accounting for medium effects in hyperon-nucleon interactions., Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables

The inner fission barriers of the even-even uranium isotopes from the proton to the neutron drip line are studied with the deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum. A periodic evolution for the ground state shapes is shown with the neutron number, i.e., spherical shapes at shell closures $N=$126, 184, 258, and prolate dominated shapes between them. In analogy to the shape evolution, the inner fission barriers also exhibit a periodic behavior: peaks at the shell closures and valleys in the mid-shells. The triaxial effect to the inner fission barrier is evaluated using the triaxial relativistic mean field calculations plus a simple BCS method for pairing. With the triaxial correction included, good consistency in the inner barrier heights is found with the available empirical data. Besides, the evolution from the proton to the neutron drip line is in accord with the results by the multi-dimensionally constrained relativistic mean field theory. A flat valley in the fission barrier height is predicted around the neutron-rich nucleus $^{318}$U which may play a role of fission recycling in the astrophysical $r$-process nucleosynthesis., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures

As a continuation of our previous work on the conservation and breaking of the pseudospin symmetry (PSS) in resonant states [Phys. Lett. B 847, 138320 (2023)}], in this work, the PSS in nuclear single-particle bound and resonant states are investigated uniformly within a relativistic framework by exploring the poles of the Green's function in spherical Woods-Saxon potentials. As the potential depths increase from zero to finite depths, the PS partners evolve from resonant states to bound states. In this progress,the PSS is broken gradually with energy, width, and density splittings. Specially, the energy and width splittings for the resonant and bound states are directly determined by the ratio of the pseudo spin-orbit potentials between the PS partners. Obvious threshold effect is observed for the energy splitting at a critical potential depth, with which the PS partners locate between the centrifugal barriers of PS partners. The differences in the density distributions of the lower component between the PS partners are manifested in the phase shift for the resonant states and amplitudes for bound states. Besides, the evolution of the phase shift as the potential depth is consistent with those for the width splitting., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2309.09266

(Pseudo)spin symmetries play vital roles in nuclear physics and have been studied extensively in spherical nuclei. In this work, possible spin and pseudospin symmetries in deformed nuclei are examined by solving a coupled-channel Dirac equation with quadruple deformation. The Green's function method is taken which provides a novel way to exactly determine the single-particle levels and properly describe the spacial density distributions. Taking axially-deformed nucleus $^{154}$Dy as an example, the spin doublets with a combination of Nilsson levels $\Lambda\pm 1/2[\mathcal{N},n_z, \Lambda]$ and pseudospin doublets with a combination of $\widetilde{\Lambda}\pm 1/2[\widetilde{\mathcal{N},n_z, \Lambda}]$ are determined. Different behaviors are displayed for the spin and pseudospin doublets. For the spin partners, those with smaller angular momentum $l$ and the third component $\Lambda$ owns better symmetry such as the $1p$ doublet while good pseudospin symmetry appears in partners locating close to the continuum threshold. By examining the single-particle Nilsson levels $\Omega[\mathcal{N},n_z,\Lambda]$ and the energy splittings between the partners, the conservation and breaking of SS and PSS are examined at different deformations. In the prolate side, the Nilsson levels for the spin and pseudospin doublets are almost parallel and the energy splittings are stable against varying deformations. By examining the density distributions, great similarities have been observed in the upper components for the spin doublets while great similarities in the lower component for the pseudospin doublets. Besides, these similarities maintain well at different deformations., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 1table

By combining RMF models and equivparticle models with density-dependent quark masses, we construct explicitly ``a quark Fermi Sea'' and ``a baryonic Fermi surface'' to model the quarkyonic phase, where baryons with momentums ranging from zero to Fermi momentums are included. The properties of nuclear matter, quark matter, and quarkyonic matter are then investigated in a unified manner, where quarkyonic matter is more stable and energy minimization is still applicable to obtain the microscopic properties of dense matter. Three different covariant density functionals TW99, PKDD, and DD-ME2 are adopted in our work, where TW99 gives satisfactory predictions for the properties of nuclear matter both in neutron stars and heavy-ion collisions and quarkyonic transition is unfavorable. Nevertheless, if PKDD with larger slope of symmetry energy $L$ or DD-ME2 with larger skewness coefficient $J$ are adopted, the corresponding EOSs are too stiff according to both experimental and astrophysical constraints. The situation is improved if quarkyonic transition takes place, where the EOSs become softer and can accommodate various experimental and astrophysical constraints.

We investigate non-radial oscillations of pure and hybrid neutron stars, employing equations of state of nuclear matter from Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory, and of quark matter from the Dyson-Schwinger quark model, performing a Gibbs construction for the mixed phase in hybrid stars. Characteristic differences between neutron-star and hybrid-star $g_1$-mode oscillation frequencies, damping times, and gravitational wave strains are pointed out. Prospects of observations are also discussed., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures

The possible exotic nuclear properties in the neutron-rich Ca, Ni, Zr, and Sn isotopes are explored with the continuum Skyrme Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory formulated with the Green's function method. The available experimental two-neutron separation energies $S_{\rm 2n}$ and one-neutron separation energies $S_{\rm n}$ are well reproduced. Much shorter drip lines predicted by $S_{\rm n}$ are obtained compared with those by $S_{\rm 2n}$. The systematic studies of the neutron pairing energies $-E_{\rm pair}$ shown that values of the odd-$A$ nuclei are much smaller in comparison with those of the neighboring even-even nuclei due to the absent contribution of pairing energy by the unpaired odd neutron. By investigating the single-particle structures, the rms radii and the density distributions, the possible halo structures in the neutron-rich Ca, Ni, and Sn isotopes are predicted, in which the sharp increases of rms radii with significant deviations from the traditional $r\varpropto A^{1/3}$ rule and very diffuse spatial distributions in densities are observed. By analyzing the contributions of different partial waves to the total neutron density $\rho_{lj}(r)/\rho(r)$, the orbitals locating around the Fermi surface especially those with low angular momenta are found the main reason causing the extended nuclear density and large rms radii. Finally, the numbers of the neutrons $N_{\lambda}$~($N_0$) occupied above the Fermi surface $\lambda_n$~(in the continuum) are discussed, the behaviors of which are basically consistent with those of pairing energy, supporting the key role of the pairing correlations in the halo phenomena., Comment: 10 figures

We investigate systematically the possible deconfinement phase transition from nuclear matter to quark matter in compact stars. The properties of nuclear matter are fixed by expanding its binding energy to the order of $\rho^3$, while those of quark matter are predicted by an equivparticle model. The Maxwell construction is then applied for the quark-hadron mixed phase. By confronting compact star structures with pulsar observations, we obtain several EOSs that are compatible with the latest observations while supporting quark cores inside the most massive stars. It is found that the quark core is rather small and does not emerge for compact stars with $M\lesssim 2M_\odot$. The in-medium quark condensate of the stellar matter in those stars are then extracted within the framework of an equivparticle model, which decreases nonlinearly with density. At larger densities with pure quark matter, the quark condensate is still large and does not necessary decrease with density, indicating significant nonperturbative contributions within the density regions covered by compact stars.

Based on an equivparticle model, we investigate the in-medium quark condensate in neutron stars. Carrying out a Taylor expansion of the nuclear binding energy to the order of $\rho^3$, we obtain a series of EOSs for neutron star matter, which are confronted with the latest nuclear and astrophysical constraints. The in-medium quark condensate is then extracted from the constrained properties of neutron star matter, which decreases non-linearly with density. However, the chiral symmetry is only partially restored with non-vanishing quark condensates, which may vanish at a density that is out of reach for neutron stars.

Single-particle resonances in the continuum are crucial for studies of exotic nuclei. In this study, the Green's function approach is employed to search for single-particle resonances based on the relativistic-mean-field model. Taking $^{120}$Sn as an example, we identify single-particle resonances and determine the energies and widths directly by probing the extrema of the Green's functions. In contrast to the results found by exploring for the extremum of the density of states proposed in our recent study [Chin. Phys. C, 44:084105 (2020)], which has proven to be very successful, the same resonances as well as very close energies and widths are obtained. By comparing the Green's functions plotted in different coordinate space sizes, we also found that the results very slightly depend on the space size. These findings demonstrate that the approach by exploring for the extremum of the Green's function is also very reliable and effective for identifying resonant states, regardless of whether they are wide or narrow., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, and 1 table

We investigate radial oscillations of pure neutron stars and hybrid stars, employing equations of state of nuclear matter from Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory, and of quark matter from the Dyson-Schwinger quark model, performing a Gibbs construction for the mixed phase in hybrid stars. We calculate the eigenfrequencies and corresponding oscillation functions. Our results for the zero points of the first-order radial oscillation frequencies give the maximum mass of stable neutron stars, consistent with the common criterion $dM/d\rho_c=0$. Possible observations of the radial oscillation frequencies could help to learn more about the equation of state, predict the maximum mass of neutron stars more precisely, and indicate the presence of quark matter., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures

The relativistic mean field theory with the Green's function method is taken to study the single-particle resonant states. Different from our previous work [Phys.Rev.C 90,054321(2014)], the resonant states are identified by searching for the poles of Green's function or the extremes of the density of states. This new approach is very effective for all kinds of resonant states, no matter it is broad or narrow. The dependence on the space size for the resonant energies, widths, and the density distributions in the coordinate space has been checked and it is found very stable. Taking $^{120}$Sn as an example, four new broad resonant states $2g_{7/2}$, $2g_{9/2}$, $2h_{11/2}$ and $1j_{13/2}$ are observed, and also the accuracy for the width of the very narrow resonant state $1h_{9/2}$ is highly improved to be $1\times 10^{-8}$ MeV. Besides, our results are very close to those by the complex momentum representation method and the complex scaling method., Comment: 5 figures and 2 tables

We calculate the variation of the chiral condensate in medium with respect to the quark chemical potential and evaluate the pion-nucleon sigma term via the Hellmann-Feynman theorem. The variation of chiral condensate in medium are obtained by solving the truncated Dyson-Schwinger equation for quark propagator at finite chemical potential, with different models for the quark-gluon vertex and gluon propagator. We obtain the value of the sigma term $\sigma_{\pi N}$ = 62(1)(2) MeV, where the first represents the systematic error due to our different model for the quark-gluon vertex and gluon propagator and the second represents a statistical error in our linear fitting procedure., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures

To study the exotic odd nuclear systems, the self-consistent continuum Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory formulated with Green's function technique is extended to include blocking effects with the equal filling approximation. Detailed formula are presented.To perform the integrals of the Green's function properly, the contour paths $C_{\rm b}^{-}$ and $C_{\rm b}^{+}$ introduced for the blocking effects should include the blocked quasi-particle state but can not intrude into the continuum area. By comparing with the box-discretized calculations, the great advantages of the Green's function method in describing the extended density distributions, resonant states, and the couplings with the continuum in exotic nuclei are shown. Finally, taking the neutron-rich odd nucleus $^{159}$Sn as an example, the halo structure is investigated by blocking the quasi-particle state $1p_{1/2}$. It is found that it is mainly the weakly bound states near the Fermi surface that contribute a lot for the extended density distributions at large coordinate space., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures

We investigate the spin and pseudospin symmetry in the single-particle resonant states by solving the Dirac equation containing a Woods-Saxon potential with Green's function method. Taking double-magic nucleus $^{208}$Pb as an example, three spin doublets $3d$, $2h$, and $1j$ and three pseudospin doublets $3\tilde{p}$, $1\tilde{i}$, and $1\tilde{j}$ are obtained for the single-neutron resonant states. By analyzing the energy splittings, we find that the threshold effect plays an important role in resonant pseudospin doubles. Besides, there is a reversed level structure of pseudospin doublets in the continuum. Differently, all the width splittings of either the spin doublets or the pseudospin doublets are systematically positive and the splittings are very small except $1\tilde{j}$ doublet. Further studies show that the splittings of the energies and widths for the resonant (pseudo)spin doublets are independent. Besides, the similarity properties of the wave functions of the spin and pseudospin doublets still maintain well in resonant states., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1710.02923

We study the interface effects in strangelets adopting mean-field approximation (MFA). Based on an equivparticle model, the linear confinement and leading-order perturbative interactions are included with density-dependent quark masses. By increasing the confinement strength, the surface tension and curvature term of strange quark matter (SQM) become larger, while the perturbative interaction does the opposite. For those parameters constrained according to the 2$M_\odot$ strange star, the surface tension is $\sim$2.4 MeV/fm${}^2$, while unstable SQM indicates a slightly larger surface tension. The obtained results are then compared with those predicted by the multiple reflection expansion (MRE) method. In contrast to the bag model case, it is found that MRE method overestimates the surface tension and underestimates the curvature term. To reproduce our results, the density of states in the MRE approach should be modified by proper damping factors.

We explore the effects of strangeness and $\Delta$ resonance in baryonic matter and compact stars within the relativistic-mean-field (RMF) models. The covariant density functional PKDD is adopted for $N$-$N$ interaction, parameters fixed based on finite hypernuclei and neutron stars are taken for the hyperon-meson couplings, and the universal baryon-meson coupling scheme is adopted for the $\Delta$-meson couplings. In light of the recent observations of GW170817 with the dimensionless combined tidal deformability $197 \leq \bar{\Lambda}\leq 720$, we find it is essential to include the $\Delta$ resonances in compact stars, and small $\Delta$-$\rho$ coupling $g_{\rho \Delta}$ is favored if the mass $2.27{}_{-0.15}^{+0.17}\ M_\odot$ of PSR J2215+5135 is confirmed.

Based on relativistic mean field (RMF) models, we study finite $\Lambda$-hypernuclei and massive neutron stars. The effective $N$-$N$ interactions PK1 and TM1 are adopted, while the $N$-$\Lambda$ interactions are constrained by reproducing the binding energy of $\Lambda$-hyperon at $1s$ orbit of $^{40}_{\Lambda}$Ca. It is found that the $\Lambda$-meson couplings follow a simple relation, indicating a fixed $\Lambda$ potential well for symmetric nuclear matter at saturation densities, i.e., around $V_{\Lambda} = -29.786$ MeV. With those interactions, a large mass range of $\Lambda$-hypernuclei can be well described. Furthermore, the masses of PSR J1614-2230 and PSR J0348+0432 can be attained adopting the $\Lambda$-meson couplings $g_{\sigma\Lambda}/g_{\sigma N}\gtrsim 0.73$, $g_{\omega\Lambda}/g_{\omega N}\gtrsim 0.80$ for PK1 and $g_{\sigma\Lambda}/g_{\sigma N}\gtrsim 0.81$, $g_{\omega\Lambda}/g_{\omega N}\gtrsim 0.90$ for TM1, respectively. This resolves the Hyperon Puzzle without introducing any additional degrees of freedom., Comment: 5 figures, 1 table, to be published in Chinese Physics C

The relativistic mean-field theory with Green's function method is extended to study $\Lambda$ hypernuclei. Taking hypernucleus $^{61}_{\Lambda}$Ca as an example, the single-particle resonant states for $\Lambda$ hyperons are investigated by analyzing density of states and the corresponding energies and widths are given. Different behaviors are observed for the resonant states, i.e., the distributions of the very narrow $1f_{5/2}$ and $1f_{7/2}$ states are very similar as bound states while that of the wide $1g_{7/2}$ and $1g_{9/2}$ states are like scattering states. Besides, the impurity effect of $\Lambda$ hyperons on the single-neutron resonant states are investigated. For most of the resonant states, both the energies and widths decrease with adding more $\Lambda$ hyperons due to the attractive $\Lambda N$ interaction. Finally, the energy level structure of $\Lambda$ hyperons in the Ca hypernucleus isotopes with mass number $A=53-73$ are studied, obvious shell structure and small spin-orbit splitting are found for the single-$\Lambda$ spectrum., Comment: 10pages, 6 figures,2 tables

Based on the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory, the influence of the pairing interaction strength on the di-neutron correlations and the crossover from superfluidity of neutron Cooper pairs in the $^{1}S_{0}$ channel to Bose-Einstein condensation of di-neutron pairs is systematically investigated in the nuclear matter. The bare nucleon-nucleon interaction Bonn-B is taken in the particle-particle channel with an effective factor to simulate the medium effects and take into account the possible ambiguity of pairing force, and the effective interaction PK1 is used in the particle-hole channel. If the effective factor is larger than 1.10, a di-neutron BEC state appears in the low-density limit, and if it is smaller than 0.85, the neutron Cooper pairs are found totally in the weak coupling BCS region. The reference values of several characteristic quantities which characterize the BCS-BEC crossover are obtained respectively from the dimensionless parameter $1/(k_{\rm Fn}a)$ with $a$ the scattering length and $k_{\rm{Fn}}$ the neutron Fermi momentum, the zero-momentum transfer density correlation function D(0) and the effective chemical potential $\nu_{\rm n}$., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, Accepted Thursday Jun 14, 2012 for Physical Review C