Associate Professor

Dr Johannes Kirscher

Department of Physics

Interests

  1. Universal properties of few-body systems
  2. Effective Field Theories
  3. Quantum dynamics in classical, extreme background fields

Education

2006

Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg
Diploma.

2011

The George Washington University
PhD

Research Interest

My research focuses on the fundamental understanding of complex phenomena in nuclei. Complexity denotes here the emergence of significant differences in observables of systems which differ from one another in the presence of a single additional nucleon. The absence of any stable five-nucleon isotope in contrast to the exceptionally stable helium-4 core is one example. Most phenomena of this type have not yet been predicted from a fundamental theory. Neither has quantum chromodynamics (QCD) successfully described the two-nucleon bound state in terms of quarks and gluons, nor were the most accurate models for the interaction between two and three nucleons able to yield reliable predictions for exotic, extremely neutron rich nuclei. This ignorance hampers the search for both new elements at and beyond the drip line of nuclear stability, and new interaction mechanisms which are not part of the Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM).

My work combines the framework of effective field theories (EFT), which provides a consistent description of a system at different scales -- in a different context, it ensures that the dynamics of rain clouds can be simulated with the same accuracy independently of whether one models the cloud as a single, pliable object or as a composite of single drops -- with modern numerical techniques.

Thereby, I develop a link between nuclear properties, including reactions, and the fundamental laws of QCD, its parameters and symmetries; I address the general problem, as it pertains to particle, nuclear, and atomic physics as well as numerous other scientific disciplines, of predicting macroscopic complexity from microscopic degrees of freedom; I analyze to what extent two, three, and many are different.

Besides pushing our knowledge of the transition from few to many-body systems thus to the most advanced level yet, my work relates directly to current experimental efforts. Details on its relevance for and overlap with these ongoing and future physical experiments are given below under two categories:

first, the understanding of nuclei as they emerge from few-nucleon interactions, and second, the derivation of the few-nucleon interaction from QCD.

Awards & Fellowships

  • Minerva Research Fellowship

Publications

  • Two particles with zero-range interaction in a magnetic field, Johannes Kirscher(Manchester U.), Brian C. Tiburzi(City Coll., N.Y. and CUNY, Graduate School - U. Ctr.) (Apr 15, 2021), Published in: Phys.Lett.B 819 (2021) 136462 • e-Print: 2104.07565 [nucl-th]
  • Emergent four-body parameter in universal two-species bosonic systems, Lorenzo Contessi(IRFU, Saclay), Johannes Kirscher(Manchester U.), Manuel Pavon Valderrama(Beihang U.) (Mar 26, 2021), Published in: Phys.Lett.A 408 (2021) 127479 • e-Print: 2103.14711 [nucl-th]
  • Triple-XX and beyond: hadronic systems of three and more X(3872)X(3872), Lorenzo Contessi(IRFU, Saclay), Johannes Kirscher(Manchester U.), Manuel Pavon Valderrama(Beihang U.) (Aug 27, 2020), Published in: Phys.Rev.D 103 (2021) 5, 056001 • e-Print: 2008.12268 [hep-ph]
  • Four-Body Scale in Universal Few-Boson Systems, B. Bazak(Hebrew U.), J. Kirscher(City Coll., N.Y. and Manchester U.), S. König(Darmstadt, Tech. Hochsch. and Darmstadt, EMMI), M. Pavón Valderrama(Beihang U.), N. Barnea(Hebrew U.) et al. (Dec 2, 2018), Published in: Phys.Rev.Lett. 122 (2019) 143001 • e-Print: 1812.00387 [cond-mat.quant-gas]
  • Asymmetric regularization of the ground and excited state of the ^{4}
    4 He nucleus, Johannes Kirscher, Harald W. Grießhammer (Mar 15, 2018), Published in: Eur.Phys.J.A 54 (2018) 8, 137 • e-Print: 1803.05949 [nucl-th]
  • Emergence of a Brunnian neutron state, Johannes Kirscher (Sep 8, 2017), e-Print: 1709.02821 [nucl-th]
  • Electromagnetic characteristics of A \leq 3A≤3 physical and lattice nuclei, Johannes Kirscher(City Coll., N.Y. and Hebrew U.), Ehoud Pazy(Negev Nucl. Res. Ctr.), Jonathan Drachman(Hebrew U.), Nir Barnea(Hebrew U.) (Feb 23, 2017), Published in: Phys.Rev.C 96 (2017) 2, 024001 • e-Print: 1702.07268 [nucl-th]
  • Ground-state properties of ^{4} 4 He and ^{16} 16 O extrapolated from lattice QCD with pionless EFT, L. Contessi(INFN, Trento and Trento U.), A. Lovato(Argonne, PHY), F. Pederiva(INFN, Trento and Trento U.), A. Roggero(Washington U., Seattle), J. Kirscher(City Coll., N.Y.) et al. (Jan 23, 2017), Published in: Phys.Lett.B 772 (2017) 839-848 • e-Print: 1701.06516 [nucl-th]
  • The Coulomb interaction in Helium-3: Interplay of strong short-range and weak long-range potentials, J. Kirscher, D. Gazit (Oct 1, 2015), Published in: Phys.Lett.B 755 (2016) 253-260 • e-Print: 1510.00118 [nucl-th]
  • Matching effective few-nucleon theories to QCD, Johannes Kirscher(Hebrew U.) (Sep 25, 2015), Published in: Int.J.Mod.Phys.E 25 (2016) 05, 1641001 • e-Print: 1509.07697 [nucl-th]
  • Spectra and Scattering of Light Lattice Nuclei from Effective Field Theory, Johannes Kirscher(Hebrew U.), Nir Barnea(Hebrew U.), Doron Gazit(Hebrew U.), Francesco Pederiva(Trento U. and TIFPA-INFN, Trento), Ubirajara van Kolck(Orsay, IPN and Arizona U.) (Jun 30, 2015), Published in: Phys.Rev.C 92 (2015) 5, 054002 • e-Print: 1506.09048 [nucl-th]
  • Pionless Effective Field Theory in Few-Nucleon Systems, Johannes Kirscher (Jun 1, 2015), e-Print: 1506.00347 [nucl-th]
  • Constraining the neutron-neutron scattering length using the effective field theory without explicit pions, Johannes Kirscher(Ohio U.), Daniel R. Phillips(Ohio U.) (Jun, 2011), Published in: Phys.Rev.C 84 (2011) 054004 • e-Print: 1106.3171 [nucl-th]
  • Zero-energy neutron-triton and proton-Helium-3 scattering with EFT\no pi, Johannes Kirscher(Ohio U.) (May, 2011), Published in: Phys.Lett.B 721 (2013) 335-341 • e-Print: 1105.3763 [nucl-th]
  • Universal Correlations in Pion-less EFT with the Resonating Group Model: Three and Four Nucleons, Johannes Kirscher(George Washington U.), Harald W. Griesshammer(George Washington U.), Deepshikha Shukla(George Washington U.), Hartmut M. Hofmann(Erlangen - Nuremberg U., Theorie III) (2010), Published in: Eur.Phys.J.A 44 (2010) 239-256 • e-Print: 0903.5538 [nucl-th]
  • Universal Correlations in Pion-less EFT with the Resonating Group Model: Three, and Four Nucleons, Johannes Kirscher(George Washington U.), Harald W. Griesshammer(George Washington U.), Deepshikha Shukla(George Washington U.), Hartmut M. Hofmann(Erlangen - Nuremberg U., Theorie III) (Sep, 2009), Published in: PoS CD09 (2009) 105 • Contribution to: CD09 • e-Print: 0909.5606 [nucl-th]

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