Abstract

Over two decades ago, nuclear physicists met in Trento, Italy, to discuss the then-modern developments in low-energy effective field theories (EFTs) of quantum chromodynamics to describe the interactions between nucleons, making so-called microscopic EFT nuclear interactions. In the summer of 2024, they reconvened after 25 years to discuss the current, post-modern status of nuclear interactions, which have become prolific in nuclear physics since the first meeting. One of the discussion points as a post-modern development was the introduction of Bayesian methods to EFT nuclear interactions. This thesis explores the developments in Bayesian methodologies for ab initio nuclear physics, focusing primarily on uncertainty quantification and model calibration. We demonstrate the usefulness of a Bayesian framework in EFT interactions with the inclusion of uncertainty during model calibration, allowing us to extract meaningful physics from data. Further, we examine the ramifications of power-counting EFT potentials and the implementation of new, widespread computational methods, which can allow for the consistent propagation of uncertainties to all nuclear calculations.

Committee Chair

Maria Piarulli

Committee Members

Saori Pastore; Alex Chen; Maria Piarulli; Pablo Giuliani; Richard Furnstahl; Saori Pastore; Willem Dickhoff

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Author's Department

Physics

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

5-6-2025

Language

English (en)

Author's ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5777-4400

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Available for download on Saturday, May 01, 2027

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