Emergence of the halo in $^{11}$Li from full nuclear many-body dynamics

Abstract

The two-neutron halo nucleus $^{11}$Li is a paradigmatic quantum many-body system whose large spatial extent and weak binding have long challenged a microscopic description from first principles. Using a neural-network variational Monte Carlo approach, we present an \textit{ab initio} demonstration that the halo structure of $^{11}$Li emerges directly from the underlying nuclear interactions and full many-body dynamics. The calculation employs an essential nuclear Hamiltonian constrained solely by few-body observables and reproduces the binding and separation energies of Li isotopes, as well as the isotopic trend of their matter radii. We identify a correlation between the halo size in $^{11}$Li and the splitting of $P$-wave neutron-alpha scattering phase shifts, establishing the crucial role of neutron-alpha spin-orbit interactions in halo formation. Dineutron correlations are found to arise naturally from the many-body wave function without assuming a preformed core-plus-valence-neutron structure. These results provide a microscopic understanding of halo formation in $^{11}$Li and establish a link between few-body scattering observables and emergent many-body structure.