Analysis of a Skyrme energy density functional with deep learning

Abstract

Over the past decade, machine learning has been successfully applied in various fields of science. In this study, we employ a deep learning method to analyze a Skyrme energy density functional (Skyrme-EDF), which is a Kohn-Sham type functional commonly used in nuclear physics. Our goal is to construct an orbital-free functional that reproduces the results of the Skyrme-EDF. To this end, we first compute energies and densities of a nucleus with the Skyrme Kohn-Sham + Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer method by introducing a set of external fields. Those are then used as training data for deep learning to construct a functional which depends only on the density distribution. Applying this scheme to the ²⁴Mg nucleus with two distinct random external fields, we successfully obtain a new functional which reproduces the binding energy of the original Skyrme-EDF with an accuracy of about 0.04 MeV. The rate at which the neural network outputs the energy for a given density is about 10⁵–10⁶ times faster than the Kohn-Sham scheme, demonstrating a promising potential for applications to heavy and superheavy nuclei, including the dynamics of fission.