At the very heart of any « many-body » method used to describe the fundamental properties of an atomic nucleus, we find the effective nucleon-nucleon interaction. Such an interaction should be capable of taking into account the nuclear medium effects. In order to obtain it, one has to use a specific fitting protocol that takes into account a variety of nuclear observables such as radii, masses, the centroids of the giant resonances or the properties of the nuclear equation of state around the saturation density.
A well-known model of the strong interaction is the Gogny model. It is a linear combination of coupling constants and operators, plus a radial form factor of the Gaussian type [1]. The coupling constants are determined via a fitting protocol that typically uses the properties of spherical nuclei such as 40-48Ca, 56Ni, 120Sn and 208Pb.
The primary goal of this thesis is to develop a consistent fitting protocol for a generic Gogny interaction in order to access some basic statistical information, such as the covariance matrix and the uncertainties on the coupling constants, in order to be able to perform a full statistical error propagation on some selected nuclear observables calculated with such an interaction [2].
After having analysed the relations between the model parameters and identified their relative importance on how well observables are reproduced, the PhD candidate will explore the possibility of modifying some terms of the interaction itself such as the inclusion of a real three-body term or beyond mean-field effects.
The PhD candidate will work within a nuclear physics group at CEA/IRESNE Cadarache. The work will be done in close collaboration with CEA/DIF. Employment perspectives are in academic research and nuclear R&D labs.

[1] D. Davesne et al. 'Infinite matter properties and zero-range limit of non-relativistic finite-range interactions.' Annals of Physics 375 (2016): 288-312.
[2] T. Haverinen and M. Kortelainen. 'Uncertainty propagation within the UNEDF models.' Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics 44.4 (2017): 044008.