Chiral three-body forces and nuclear first-principles studies

Nuclear first-principles (or called ab initio) studies are the frontier of theoretical nuclear physics research for their reliable predictions and the ability to guide experiments. It bridges low-energy nuclear physics and the fundamental theory (quantum chromodynamics QCD) through the Chiral effective field theory. In past decades, ab initio methods have gained great success, benefiting from developments of quantum many-body methods and computer hardware. Using the innovative quantum many-body methods and the chiral potential that is fitted to low-energy nucleon-nucleon scattering data, ab initio calculations have been pushed from the light mass nuclei to heavy mass nuclei, from well-bound stable nuclei to weakly bound or unbound nuclei. During pasting years, we have been concentrating on exploring two aspects in ab initio calculations: chiral three-body forces and continuum effects. Chiral three-body forces have been shown to have broad influences on both the properties of finite nuclei and nuclear matter. Continuum effects are the key ingredient in the calculations of weakly bound or unbound nuclei. This paper reviews the series of achievements that we gained in the development of chiral three-body forces and ab initio Gamow shell model which takes the continuum coupling into account.