Zakopane 2026 Conference on Nuclear Physics

Understanding nuclear structure from fundamental interactions and equations, i.e., ab initio, is a foundational task of nuclear theory. It has long been a challenge to achieve a universal description of various exotic nuclear phenomena in a unified ab initio framework. This talk presents recent advancements using nuclear lattice effective field theory (LEFT) to bridge this gap.

We first explore the low-lying spectrum and geometric structures of $^{12}\text{C}$, where the $\alpha$-clustering reveal the "bent-arm" configuration of the enigmatic Hoyle state. We then extend our systematic study to the beryllium isotopic chain ($^{7}\text{Be}$ to $^{12}\text{Be}$), where LEFT successfully captures diverse phenomena including molecular-orbital and one-neutron halo. Finally, we discuss a parameter-free calculation of the $\alpha$-particle monopole transition form factor, showing excellent agreement with high-precision data from MAMI. These results demonstrate that LEFT provides a powerful, predictive framework for unifying our understanding of nuclear clustering, shell evolution, and few-body dynamics across the chart of nuclides.