Strong interactions for precision nuclear physics

Objetivo

Nuclear physics is a cornerstone in our scientific endeavour to
understand the universe. Indeed, atomic nuclei bring us closer to
study both the stellar explosions in the macrocosmos, where the
elements are formed, and the fundamental symmetries of the
microcosmos. Having access to a a precise description of the
interactions between protons and neutrons would provide a key to
new knowledge across 20 orders of magnitude; from neutrinos to
neutron stars. Despite a century of the finest efforts, a
systematic description of strongly interacting matter at low
energies is still lacking. Successful theoretical approaches,
such as mean-field and shell models, rely on uncontrolled
approximations that severely limit their predictive power in
regions where the model has not been adjusted.

In this project I will develop a novel methodology to use
experimental information from heavy atomic nuclei in the
construction of nuclear interactions from chiral effective field
theory. I expect this approach to enable me and my team to make
precise ab initio predictions of various nuclear observables in a
wide mass-range from hydrogen to lead as well as infinite nuclear
matter. I will apply Bayesian regression and methods from machine
learning to quantify the statistical and systematic uncertainties
of the theoretical predictions. The novelty and challenge in this
project lies in synthesising (i) the design of nuclear
interactions, (ii) ab initio calculations of nuclei, and (iii)
statistical inference in the confrontation between theory and
experimental data. This alignment of methods, harboured within
the same project, will create a clear scientific advantage and
allow me to tackle the following big research question: how can
atomic nuclei be described in chiral effective field theories of
quantum chromo dynamics?