nucl-th papers | Gist.Science

Nuclear theory sits at the fascinating intersection of particle physics and the forces that hold our universe together. This field explores how protons and neutrons bind inside atomic nuclei, seeking to understand the fundamental interactions that govern matter at its most dense and energetic levels. While the mathematics involved can be incredibly complex, the core questions are deeply human: how does the universe function at its smallest scales, and what happens when we push matter to its limits?

At Gist.Science, we make these cutting-edge discoveries accessible by processing every new preprint published in this category on arXiv. Our team transforms dense academic manuscripts into clear, plain-language summaries alongside detailed technical overviews, ensuring that both experts and curious readers can grasp the latest breakthroughs without getting lost in the jargon. Below are the latest papers in nuclear theory, distilled and ready for you to explore.

Saturation of Nuclear Binding from Lattice Hamiltonians

This paper resolves a conundrum regarding nuclear binding by demonstrating through Hartree-Fock variational upper bounds that while lattice Hamiltonians with only two-nucleon potentials fail to accurately describe nuclear saturation compared to previous Monte Carlo results, those including three-nucleon potentials achieve constant binding energy per nucleon primarily due to the dense packing inherent to the lattice discretization rather than repulsive interactions.

Maxwell Rothman, Gaute Hagen, Matthias Heinz, Thomas Papenbrock2026-06-11⚛️ nucl-th

The Confined beta-Soft rotor model in rare-earth nuclei

This paper applies the Confined beta-Soft (CBS) rotor model to systematically calculate and compare ground-state band energies, B(E2) transition rates, and beta-band excitations of even-even rare-earth nuclei with experimental data, while also providing predictions for unmeasured observables to guide future research.

Jim A. Papadopoulos, T. J. Mertzimekis, P. Koseoglou, P. Vasileiou, Dennis Bonatsos2026-06-11⚛️ nucl-ex

Projective Imaging of High-Energy Nuclei via Coherent Exclusive Vector Meson Production in Electron-Nucleus Collisions

This paper proposes a method to reconstruct the gluon spatial distribution in high-energy nuclei by measuring the projected momentum transfer distribution perpendicular to the electron scattering plane to mitigate resolution effects and utilizing the angular distribution of vector meson decay products to statistically suppress incoherent backgrounds.

Maci Kesler, Ashik Ikbal Sheikh, Rongrong Ma, Zhoudunming Tu, Thomas Ullrich, Zhangbu Xu2026-06-10⚛️ nucl-ex

$\textit{Ab Initio}$ Exact Calculation of Strongly-Correlated Nucleonic Matter

This study employs state-of-the-art full configuration-interaction quantum Monte Carlo (FCIQMC) to perform exact $\textit{ab initio}$ calculations of infinite nucleonic matter, revealing that symmetric nuclear matter is strikingly strongly correlated and challenging the validity of previous many-body expansion truncations.

Rongzhe Hu, Shaoliang Jin, Xin Zhen, Haoyu Shang, Junchen Pei, Furong Xu, Francesco Marino2026-06-10⚛️ nucl-ex

Collapse of Magnetized White Dwarfs as site of Heavy Element Formation and Kilonova Signal

This study presents the first end-to-end simulation demonstrating that the accretion-induced collapse of a magnetized, rapidly rotating white dwarf produces neutron-rich, lanthanide-rich ejecta capable of robust $r$ -process nucleosynthesis, generating a near-infrared kilonova signal that matches the observed properties of AT 2023vfi/GRB 230307A without parameter tuning.

Tetyana Pitik, David Radice, Daniel Kasen, Fabio Magistrelli, Patrick Chi-Kit Cheong, Sebastiano Bernuzzi2026-06-10⚛️ nucl-th

Integrating Out, Twice:The Open-System Case That Neural-Network Ensemble Theory Is Missing

This paper establishes a theoretical framework comparing closed-system neural network ensembles with open-system analogs from nuclear reaction theory, ultimately concluding that the latter's distinctive non-Hermitian dynamics are structurally absent in mainstream learning due to the lack of continuous spectra and wave-like behavior, thereby locating the true source of operational uncertainty within the closed-system correspondence.

Jin Lei2026-06-10⚛️ nucl-th

Charm quark production in heavy-ion collisions as a signature of pre-equilibrium

This paper proposes that precise measurements of total charm production in heavy-ion collisions, when combined with improved calculations of initial hard scatterings, can serve as a signature to infer properties of the pre-equilibrium stage, despite current theoretical uncertainties.

Maurice Coquet, Thomas Faure, Sören Schlichting, Mika Spier, Michael Winn2026-06-10⚛️ nucl-th

Nonflow Subtraction Beyond Two-Particle Correlations

This paper presents a general framework for subtracting nonflow effects from multi-particle cumulants in small collision systems by leveraging $1/N^{m-1}$ scaling and dipolar flow estimators, thereby enabling the systematic quantification of collective flow at particle multiplicities previously inaccessible due to uncontrolled nonflow residuals.

Zaining Wang, Jiangyong Jia, Jinhui Chen, Shengli Huang, Chunjian Zhang, Zhengxi Yan2026-06-10⚛️ nucl-th

Light and Strange Baryons in Medium

This paper employs a relativistic constituent quark model with the Faddeev approach to investigate how medium-induced variations in constituent quark masses and couplings affect the light and strange baryon spectrum, finding that mass shifts significantly alter ideal-gas baryon yields and ratios, particularly when baryons exhibit different constituent-quark-mass dependencies.

T. Massimino, T. Klähn, Z. Papp2026-06-10⚛️ hep-ph

Sequential Clusterization of Light Nuclei and Hypernuclei in Heavy-Ion Collisions within a Wigner Function Coalescence Framework

This paper investigates the formation of light nuclei and hypernuclei in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=3~\mathrm{GeV}$ using a parameter-free coalescence framework based on realistic $N$ -body wave functions, revealing species-dependent formation times and improving the description of $A=4$ yields through additional cluster-nucleon channels while providing predictions for heavier hypernuclei.

Junyi Han, Yue-Hang Leung, Jiaxing Zhao, Yingjie Zhou, Norbert Hermann, Yaping Wang2026-06-10⚛️ nucl-th

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