Unified ab initio approaches to nuclear structure and reactions

Contribution to the Special Physica Scripta Edition - 40 year anniversary - Nobel Prize '75, 71 pages, 29 figuresInternational audienceThe description of nuclei starting from the constituent nucleons and the realistic interactions among them has been a long-standing goal in nuclear physics. In addition to the complex nature of the nuclear forces, with two-, three- and possibly higher many-nucleon components, one faces the quantum-mechanical many-nucleon problem governed by an interplay between bound and continuum states. In recent years, significant progress has been made in ab initio nuclear structure and reaction calculations based on input from QCD-employing Hamiltonians constructed within chiral effective field theory. After a brief overview of the field, we focus on ab initio many-body approaches - built upon the No-Core Shell Model - that are capable of simultaneously describing both bound and scattering nuclear states, and present results for resonances in light nuclei, reactions important for astrophysics and fusion research. In particular, we review recent calculations of resonances in the $^6$He halo nucleus, of five- and six-nucleon scattering, and an investigation of the role of chiral three-nucleon interactions in the structure of $^9$Be. Further, we discuss applications to the $^7$Be$(p,\gamma)^8$B radiative capture. Finally, we highlight our efforts to describe transfer reactions including the $^3$H$(d,n)^4$He fusion