Non-local orbital-free density functional theory incorporating nuclear shell effects

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Wu, Xinhui, Colò, Gianluca, Hagino, Kouichi, Zhao, Pengwei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Wu, Xinhui
Colò, Gianluca
Hagino, Kouichi
Zhao, Pengwei
author_facet Wu, Xinhui
Colò, Gianluca
Hagino, Kouichi
Zhao, Pengwei
contents Incorporating nuclear shell effects within the framework of orbital-free density functional theory (DFT) has remained a longstanding challenge in nuclear physics. While the Hohenberg-Kohn theorem formally guarantees the existence of an orbital-free density functional that is capable of describing all many-body effects, including shell effects, practical attempts since the 1970s have consistently failed to capture such effects. This persistent difficulty has even led to the misconception that the orbital-free DFT is inherently unable to describe nuclear shell effects. Here we develop a {\it non-local} orbital-free DFT approach for atomic nuclei and demonstrate that nuclear shell effects can be successfully incorporated into the orbital-free DFT through the construction of a non-local kinetic energy density functional. In particular, we show that the non-local orbital-free functional yields a nucleon localization function that, as an established indicator of shell effects, exhibits consistent behavior with the exact Kohn-Sham solution.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_22546
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Non-local orbital-free density functional theory incorporating nuclear shell effects
Wu, Xinhui
Colò, Gianluca
Hagino, Kouichi
Zhao, Pengwei
Nuclear Theory
Nuclear Experiment
Incorporating nuclear shell effects within the framework of orbital-free density functional theory (DFT) has remained a longstanding challenge in nuclear physics. While the Hohenberg-Kohn theorem formally guarantees the existence of an orbital-free density functional that is capable of describing all many-body effects, including shell effects, practical attempts since the 1970s have consistently failed to capture such effects. This persistent difficulty has even led to the misconception that the orbital-free DFT is inherently unable to describe nuclear shell effects. Here we develop a {\it non-local} orbital-free DFT approach for atomic nuclei and demonstrate that nuclear shell effects can be successfully incorporated into the orbital-free DFT through the construction of a non-local kinetic energy density functional. In particular, we show that the non-local orbital-free functional yields a nucleon localization function that, as an established indicator of shell effects, exhibits consistent behavior with the exact Kohn-Sham solution.
title Non-local orbital-free density functional theory incorporating nuclear shell effects
topic Nuclear Theory
Nuclear Experiment
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.22546