Nuclear Physics Division

The comparison of ab initio calculations and experimental data was the subject of original work initiated by physicists from the Nuclear Physics Department of the CEA-Saclay: for the first time, this study combines two types of fundamental observables of the nucleus: mass (binding energy of the fundamental state) and size in terms of nuclear radius, in the form of the mean square radius of the density of matter (all nucleons, protons and neutrons), and the proposed comparison is extended to the most neutron-rich isotopes. This work, published on July 27, 2016 in Physical Review Letters, was presented as a "highlight from the editor", and the results highlight the key observables on which to build our general understanding of the description of atomic nuclei, by linking them to ab initio forces. The comparison with several computational techniques was carried out in collaboration with theorists from the University of Surrey, Triumf, and MSU.