Particle-number conservation in quasiparticle representation in the isovector neutron-proton pairing case

Until now, the Sharp-Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (SBCS) particle-number projection method, in the isovector neutron-proton pairing case, has been developed in the particle representation. However, this formalism is sometimes complicated and cumbersome. In this work, the formalism is developed in the quasiparticle representation. An expression of the projected ground state wave function is proposed. Expressions of the energy as well as the expectation values of the total particle-number operator and its square are deduced. It is shown that these expressions are formally similar to their homologues in the pairing between like-particles case. They are easier to handle than the ones obtained using the particle representation and are more adapted to numerical calculations. The method is then numerically tested within the schematic one-level model, which allows comparisons with exact results, as well as in the case of even-even nuclei within the Woods-Saxon model. In each case, it is shown that the particle-number fluctuations that are inherent to the BCS method are completely eliminated by the projection. In the framework of the one-level model, the values of the projected energy are clearly closer to the exact values than the BCS ones. In realistic cases, the relative discrepancies between projected and unprojected values of the energy are small. However, the absolute deviations may reach several MeV.