Uncertainty quantification and propagation in nuclear density functional theory

N. Schunck, J. D. McDonnell, D. Higdon, J. Sarich, S. M. Wild

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Nuclear density functional theory (DFT) is one of the main theoretical tools used to study the properties of heavy and superheavy elements, or to describe the structure of nuclei far from stability. While on-going efforts seek to better root nuclear DFT in the theory of nuclear forces (see Duguet et al., this Topical Issue), energy functionals remain semi-phenomenological constructions that depend on a set of parameters adjusted to experimental data in finite nuclei. In this paper, we review recent efforts to quantify the related uncertainties, and propagate them to model predictions. In particular, we cover the topics of parameter estimation for inverse problems, statistical analysis of model uncertainties and Bayesian inference methods. Illustrative examples are taken from the literature.

Original languageEnglish
Article number169
Pages (from-to)1-14
Number of pages14
JournalEuropean Physical Journal A
Volume51
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2015
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
Argonne National LaboratoryDE-SC0008511
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
U.S. Department of Energy

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