Deuteron distribution in nuclear matter Original Research Article

We analyze the properties of deuteron-like structures in infinite, correlated nuclear matter, described by a realistic hamiltonian containing the Urbana v14 two-nucleon and the Urbana TNI many-body potentials. The distribution of neutron–proton pairs, carrying the deuteron quantum numbers, is obtained as a function of the total momentum by computing the overlap between the nuclear matter in its ground state and the deuteron wave functions in correlated basis functions theory. We study the differences between the S- and D-wave components of the deuteron and those of the deuteron-like pair in the nuclear medium. The total number of deuteron type pairs is computed and compared with the predictions of Levingerʹs quasideuteron model. The resulting Levingerʹs factor in nuclear matter at equilibrium density is 11.63. We use the local density approximation to estimate the Levingerʹs factor for heavy nuclei, obtaining results which are consistent with the available experimental data from photoreactions.