Isospin symmetry breaking in infinite nuclear matter

Abstract

Isospin symmetry, a fundamental concept in nuclear physics, is known to be only approximate in real nuclear systems. In this thesis, we investigate isospin symmetry breaking by quantifying charge symmetry breaking and charge independence breaking e ects using the Argonne v18 nucleon-nucleon potential. The analysis is conducted within the Hartree-Fock approximation, modeling nucleon wave functions in in nite nuclear matter as plane waves. Expectation values of the relevant interaction terms are computed for both symmetric nuclear matter and pure neutron matter, obtaining repulsive energy corrections of approximately 0.283 MeV and 1.008 MeV per nucleon at saturation density ( 0 = 0:16 fm􀀀3), respectively. For symmetric nuclear matter, the results obtained align well with the literature, and for pure neutron matter, they are partially consistent. Overall, the study highlights the value of realistic potentials and the usefulness of Hartree-Fock in addressing isospin symmetry breaking in nuclear matter.