The symmetry energy and its density dependence are crucial inputs for many nuclear physics and astrophysics applications, as they determine properties ranging from the neutron-skin thickness of nuclei to the crust thickness and the radius of neutron stars. Recently, PREX-II reported a value of $0.283 \pm 0.071$ fm for the neutron-skin thickness of $^{208}$Pb, implying a slope parameter $L = 106 \pm 37$ MeV, larger than most ranges obtained from microscopic calculations and other nuclear experiments. We use a nonparametric equation of state representation based on Gaussian processes to constrain the symmetry energy $S_0$, $L$, and $R_\mathrm{skin}^{^{208}\mathrm{Pb}}$ directly from observations of neutron stars with minimal modeling assumptions. The resulting astrophysical constraints from heavy pulsar masses, LIGO/Virgo, and NICER clearly favor smaller values of the neutron skin and $L$, as well as negative symmetry incompressibilities. Combining astrophysical data with PREX-II and chiral effective field theory constraints yields $S_0 = 33.0^{+2.0}_{-1.8}$ MeV, $L=53^{+14}_{-15}$ MeV, and $R_\mathrm{skin}^{^{208}\mathrm{Pb}}=0.17^{+0.04}_{-0.04}$ fm.
The symmetry energy and its density dependence are pivotal for many nuclear physics and astrophysics applications, as they determine properties ranging from the neutron-skin thickness of nuclei to the crust thickness and the radius of neutron stars. Recently, PREX-II reported a value of $0.283\pm0.071$ fm for the neutron-skin thickness of $^{208}$Pb, $R_{\rm skin}^{^{208}\text{Pb}}$, implying a symmetry-energy slope parameter $L$ of $106\pm37$ MeV, larger than most ranges obtained from microscopic calculations and other nuclear experiments. We use a nonparametric equation of state representati…
The density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy remains poorly constrained. Starting from precise empirical values of the nuclear volume and surface symmetry energy coefficients and the nuclear saturation density, we show how in the ambit of microscopic calculations with different energy density functionals, the value of the symmetry energy slope parameter $L$ alongwith that for neutron skin can be put in tighter bounds. The value of $L$ is found to be $L$= 64$\pm $5 MeV. For $^{208}$Pb, the neutron skin thickness comes out to be 0.188 $\pm $0.014 fm. Knowing $L$, the method can be applied t…
We study the relation between neutron removal cross section ($σ_{-N}$) and neutron skin thickness for finite neutron rich nuclei using the statistical abrasion ablation (SAA) model. Different sizes of neutron skin are obtained by adjusting the diffuseness parameter of neutrons in the Fermi distribution. It is demonstrated that there is a good linear correlation between $σ_{-N}$ and the neutron skin thickness for neutron rich nuclei. Further analysis suggests that the relative increase of neutron removal cross section could be used as a quantitative measure for the neutron skin thickness in neu…
The complex nature of the nuclear forces generates a broad range and diversity of observational phenomena. Heavy nuclei, though orders of magnitude less massive than neutron stars, are governed by the same underlying physics, which is enshrined in the nuclear equation of state. Heavy nuclei are expected to develop a neutron-rich skin where many neutrons collect near the surface. Such a skin thickness is strongly sensitive to the poorly-known density dependence of the symmetry energy near saturation density. An accurate and model-independent determination of the neutron-skin thickness of heavy …
The correlation between neutron skin-thickness of a neutron-rich nucleus and slope parameter of symmetry energy is assessed as a function of density using relativistic mean field models containing non-linear couplings among different mesons. Models with larger skin were found to probe the slope parameter even at suprasaturation densities, whereas models with smaller skin were observed to be sensitive only at specific subsaturation density, connected to the average density of nuclei. Possible reasons behind this density dependence are explored systematically. These results might be model specif…
The nuclear binding energy is studied using a finite temperature density functional theory. A Skyrme interaction is used in this work. Volume, surface, and symmetry energy contributions to the binding energy are investigated. The case of neutron skin is considered in detail. The neutron skin modifies the mass $A$ dependence of various terms and $I$ dependence of the skin thickness is proportional to $I$ for the case of same central density.
Direct hard photon emissions from incoherent proton-neutron bremsstrahlung in collisions of the neutron-rich projectile $^{50}$Ca with $^{12}$C and $^{40}$Ca targets are simulated in the framework of the isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics (IQMD) model. By adjusting the diffuseness parameter of neutron density in the droplet model to obtain different neutron skin thicknesses for $^{50}$Ca, the effects of neutron skin thickness on direct hard photon emission are investigated via several probes. The results show that more direct hard photons are produced with increasing neutron skin thi…
The interplay between the formation of neutron skin and alpha cluster at the dilute surface of neutron-rich nuclei is one of the interesting subjects in the study of neutron-rich nuclei and nuclear clustering. A theoretical model has predicted that the growth of neutron skin will prevent the alpha clustering at the nuclear surface. Quite recently, this theoretical perspective; the suppression of alpha clustering by the neutron-skin formation was first confirmed experimentally in Sn isotopes as the reduction of the (p, p alpha) reaction cross-section. Motivated by the novel discovery, in this w…
We present and discuss numerical predictions for the neutron density distribution of $^{208}$Pb using various non-relativistic and relativistic mean-field models for the nuclear structure. Our results are compared with the very recent pion photoproduction data from Mainz. The parity-violating asymmetry parameter for elastic electron scattering at the kinematics of the PREX experiment at JLab and the neutron skin thickness are compared with the available data. We consider also the dependence between the neutron skin and the parameters of the expansion of the symmetry energy.
Neutron-skins in coordinate space and proton-skins in momentum space are predicted to coexist in heavy nuclei and their correlation is governed by Liouville's theorem and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. An analysis of their correlation within a further extended Thomas-Fermi (ETF$^+$) approximation incorporating effects of nucleon short-range correlations reveals generally that protons move faster than neutrons in neutron-skins of heavy nuclei.
The fragment production in collisions of $^{48,50}$Ca+$^{12}$C at 50 MeV/nucleon are simulated via the Isospin-Dependent Quantum Molecular Dynamics (IQMD) model followed by the {GEMINI code}. {By changing the diffuseness parameter of neutron density distribution to obtain different neutron skin size, the effects of neutron skin thickness ($δ_{np}$) on projectile-like fragments (PLF) are investigated. The sensitivity of isoscaling behavior to neutron skin size is studied, from which it is found that the isoscaling parameter $α$ has a linear dependence on $δ_{np}$. A linear dependence between $δ…
Multi-neutron systems are crucial to understanding the physics of neutron-rich nuclei and neutron stars. Neutron drops, neutrons confined in an external field, are investigated systematically in both non-relativistic and relativistic density functional theories and with ab initio calculations. We demonstrate a strong linear correlation, which is universal in the realm of mean-field models, between the rms radii of neutron drops and the neutron skin thickness of Pb-208 and Ca-48; i.e., the difference between the neutron and proton rms radii of a nucleus. Due to its high quality, this correlatio…
The neutron-skin thickness of heavy nuclei provides a fundamental link to the equation of state of neutron-rich matter, and hence to the properties of neutron stars. The Lead Radius Experiment ("PREX") at Jefferson Laboratory has recently provided the first model-independence evidence on the existence of a neutron-rich skin in 208Pb. In this contribution we examine how the increased accuracy in the determination of neutron skins expected from the commissioning of intense polarized electron beams may impact the physics of neutron stars.
The isotopic dependence of the isovector Pygmy dipole response in tin is studied within the framework of the relativistic random phase approximation. Regarded as an oscillation of the neutron skin against the isospin-symmetric core, the pygmy dipole resonance may place important constraints on the neutron skin of heavy nuclei and, as a result, on the equation of state of neutron-rich matter. The present study centers around two questions. First, is there a strong correlation between the development of a neutron skin and the emergence of low-energy isovector dipole strength? Second, could one u…
The historical first detection of a binary neutron star merger by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration [B. P. Abbott et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 161101 (2017)] is providing fundamental new insights into the astrophysical site for the $r$-process and on the nature of dense matter. A set of realistic models of the equation of state (EOS) that yield an accurate description of the properties of finite nuclei, support neutron stars of two solar masses, and provide a Lorentz covariant extrapolation to dense matter are used to confront its predictions against tidal polarizabilities extracted from the gravit…
Motivated by a recent experiment, the distribution of electric dipole strength in the neutron-rich 68Ni isotope was computed using a relativistic random phase approximation with a set of effective interactions that - although well calibrated - predict significantly different values for the neutron-skin thickness in 208Pb. The emergence of low-energy "Pygmy" strength that exhausts about 5-8% of the energy weighted sum rule (EWSR) is clearly identified. In addition to the EWSR, special emphasis is placed on the dipole polarizability. In particular, our results suggest a strong correlation betwee…
A precise determination of the neutron skin thickness of a heavy nucleus sets a basic constraint on the nuclear symmetry energy (the neutron skin thickness is the difference of the neutron and proton rms radii of the nucleus). The parity radius experiment (PREX) may achieve it by electroweak parity-violating electron scattering (PVES) on 208Pb. We investigate PVES in nuclear mean field approach to allow the accurate extraction of the neutron skin thickness of 208Pb from the parity-violating asymmetry probed in the experiment. We demonstrate a high linear correlation between the parity-violatin…
The neutron skin of $^{208}$Pb has received considerable attention in recent years. A variety of strongly-interacting probes depict a rather consistent picture but pionic probes have not been referred to in this context. We present here neutron-skin values from pionic atoms and from total reaction cross sections of $π^+$ between 0.7 and 2 GeV/c which fit well into the picture. In addition we show that a neutron skin for $^{48}$Ca can be obtained from existing data on pionic atoms and the result agrees with pion scattering experiments and with the scattering of $α$ particles.
In these proceedings, we present the three proposed observables to probe the neutron skin and symmetry energy with relativistic isobar collisions, namely, the isobar ratios of the produced hadron multiplicities ($N_{\rm ch}$), the mean transverse momenta ($\langle p_{\perp} \rangle$), and the net charge multiplicities ($ΔQ$). Our findings suggest potentially significant improvement to neutron skin and symmetry energy determination over traditional low energy methods.
Within an isospin- and momentum-dependent transport model using as an input nucleon density profiles from Hartree-Fock calculations based on a modified Skyrme-like (MSL) model, we study how to eliminate the influence of neutron-skin size difference of initial colliding nuclei in probing the nuclear symmetry energy. Within the current experimental uncertainty range of neutron-skin size of $^{208}$Pb, the Pb+Pb collisions are performed in semicentral and peripheral collisions with impact parameters of 5 and 9fm and at beam energies from 50 MeV/nucleon to 1000 MeV/nucleon, respectively. It is sho…
In this work we propose a new method to measure the evolution of the neutron skin thickness between different isotopes. We consider antiproton-nucleus interactions close to the production threshold of $Λ\overlineΛ$ and $Σ\overlineΛ$ pairs. At low energies, $Λ\overlineΛ$ pairs are produced in p + p collisions, while $Σ\overlineΛ$ pairs can only be produced in p + n interactions. Measuring these cross sections provides information on the neutron skin thickness
The density dependence of the symmetry energy around saturation density, characterized by the slope parameter L, is studied using information provided by the neutron skin thickness in finite nuclei. An estimate for L is obtained from experimental data on neutron skins extracted from antiprotonic atoms. We also discuss the ability of parity-violating elastic electron scattering to obtain information on the neutron skin thickness in 208Pb and to constrain the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy. The size and shape of the neutron density distribution of 208Pb predicted by mean-field…
The neutron skin thickness of 48Ca was deduced from the interaction cross section by adopting a microscopic optical potential. The optical potential used was constructed by folding a chiral g matrix and the Skyrme mean-field densities renormalized by considering the information of the interaction cross section. The result was R_skin = 0.139 \pm 0.058 fm.
A new method is proposed to deduce the neutron radii of neutron-rich nuclei. This method requires measuring the reaction cross sections of both the neutron-rich nucleus and its stable isotope at the same energy on a proton target. Using this method and the available experimental data of $^{12,22}$C + $p$ and $^{9,14}$Be + $p$ at 40$A$ MeV, the neutron radii of $^{22}$C and $^{14}$Be have been deduced for the first time.
We present predictions for proton skins based on isospin-asymmetric equations of state derived microscopically from high-precision chiral few-nucleon interactions. Moreover, we investigate the relation between the neutron skin of a nucleus and the difference between the proton radii of the corresponding mirror nuclei.
The remaining uncertainties of isovector nuclear interactions call for reliable experimental measurements of isovector probes in finite nuclei. Based on the Bayesian analysis, although the neutron-skin thickness data or the isovector giant dipole resonance data in $^{208}$Pb can constrain only one isovector interaction parameter, correlations between other parameters are built. Using combined data of both the neutron-skin thickness and the isovector giant dipole resonance helps to constrain significantly all isovector interaction parameters, thus serves as a useful way in the future analysis.
The effects of neutron skin on the multiplicity ($N_{\rm ch}$) and eccentricity($ε_2$) in relativistic $^{96}_{44}$Ru+$^{96}_{44}$Ru and $^{96}_{40}$Zr+$^{96}_{40}$Zr collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}}=200$ GeV are investigated with the Trento model. It is found that the Ru+Ru/Zr+Zr ratios of the $N_{\rm ch}$ distributions and $ε_{2}$ in mid-central collisions are exquisitely sensitive to the neutron skin type (skin vs.~halo). The state-of-the-art calculations by energy density functional theory (DFT) favor the halo-type neutron skin and can soon be confronted by experimental data. It is demo…
Recent experiments on lead (\textrm{$Pb_{82}^{208}$}) nuclei have observed the celebrated phenomenon of neutron skin-thickness of low energy nuclear physics. The skin-thickness provides a measure of extension of spatial distribution of neutrons inside the atomic nucleus than protons. We have studied the effect of neutron skin-thickness on inclusive prompt photon production in Pb~+~Pb collisions at the Large Hadron Collider energies. We have calculated the \textquoteleft central-to-peripheral ratio\textquoteright ($R_\textrm{cp}$) of prompt photon production with and without accounting for neut…
We present an inference of the nuclear symmetry energy magnitude $J$, the slope $L$ and the curvature $K_{\rm sym}$ by combining neutron skin data on Ca, Pb and Sn isotopes and our best theoretical information about pure neutron matter (PNM). A Bayesian framework is used to consistently incorporate prior knowledge of the PNM equation of state from chiral effective field theory calculations. Neutron skins are modeled in a Hartree-Fock approach using an extended Skyrme energy-density functional which allows for independent variation of $J$, $L$ and $K_{\rm sym}$ without affecting the symmetric n…
We study the correlation between the neutron skin development and the low-energy dipole response associated with the pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) in connection with the properties of symmetry energy. We perform our investigation within a microscopic transport model based on the Landau-Vlasov kinetic equation by employing three different equations of state in the isovector sector. Together with the giant dipole resonance (GDR) for all studied systems, we identify a PDR collective mode whose energy centroid is very well described by the parametrization E_{PDR}=41 A^{-1/3}. A linear correlation b…
The formation of $α$-particle clusters on the surface of heavy nuclei is described in a generalized relativistic mean-field model with explicit cluster degrees of freedom. The effects on the size of the neutron skin of Sn nuclei and ${}^{208}$Pb are investigated as a function of the mass number and the isospin-dependent part of the effective interaction, respectively. The correlation of the neutron skin thickness with the difference of the neutron and proton numbers and with the slope of the nuclear symmetry energy is modified as compared to the mean-field calculation without alpha-cluster cor…
Background: The neutron skin of a heavy nucleus as well as many neutron-star properties are highly sensitive to the poorly constrained density dependence of the symmetry energy. Purpose: To provide for the first time meaningful theoretical errors and to assess the degree of correlation between the neutron-skin thickness of ${}^{208}$Pb and several neutron-star properties. Methods: A proper covariance analysis based on the predictions of an accurately-calibrated relativistic functional {\sl "FSUGold"} is used to quantify theoretical errors and correlation coefficients. Results: We find correlat…
Particle production in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions depends on the details of the nucleon density distributions in the colliding nuclei. We demonstrate that the charged hadron multiplicity distributions in isobaric collisions at ultrarelativistic energies provide a novel approach to determine the poorly known neutron density distributions and thus the neutron skin thickness in finite nuclei, which can in turn put stringent constraints on the nuclear symmetry energy.
We discuss the difference between neutron halos and neutron skins matching to our usual thinking of a skin as being connected to a body whereas a halo is, in some sense, disconnected from the body. We emphasize that the existence of one or more neutrons behaving incoherently with respect to the rest of the nucleons in a nucleus can match the picture of a neutron halo.
We describe a relation between the symmetry energy coefficients c_sym(rho) of nuclear matter and a_sym(A) of finite nuclei that accommodates other correlations of nuclear properties with the low-density behavior of c_sym(rho). Here we take advantage of this relation to explore the prospects for constraining c_sym(rho) of systematic measurements of neutron skin sizes across the mass table, using as example present data from antiprotonic atoms. The found constraints from neutron skins are in harmony with the recent determinations from reactions and giant resonances.
We investigate the contributions of various reaction channels to the interaction, reaction, charge-changing and neutron-changing cross sections. The goal is to investigate the relation between microscopic interactions and the symmetry energy component of the equation of state (EoS) of interest for the structure of neutron stars. We have made a comparison of the neutron skins extracted from diverse experimental techniques with those obtained with Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations with 23 Skyrme and with 8 density-dependent interactions used in the relativistic mean field method. We have show…
Background: Measurements of neutron radii provide important constraints on the isovector sector of nuclear density functionals and offer vital guidance in areas as diverse as atomic parity violation, heavy-ion collisions, and neutron-star structure. Purpose: To assess the impact of spin-orbit currents on the electromagnetic- and weak-charge radii of a variety of nuclei. Special emphasis is placed on the experimentally accessible electroweak skin, defined as the difference between weak-charge and electromagnetic-charge radii. Methods: Two accurately calibrated relativistic mean field models are…
The Lead Radius Experiment (PREX) has provided the first model-independent evidence in favor of a neutron-rich skin in ${}^{208}$Pb. Although the error bars are large, the reported large central value of 0.33\,fm is particularly intriguing. To test whether such a thick neutron-skin in ${}^{208}$Pb is already incompatible with laboratory experiments or astrophysical observations, we employ relativistic models with neutron-skin thickness in ${}^{208}$Pb ranging from 0.16 to 0.33 fm to compute ground state properties of finite nuclei, their collective monopole and dipole response, and mass-{\sl v…
The correlation between the thickness of the neutron skin in Pb-208, and the degree of isospin diffusion in heavy-ion collisions is examined. The same equation of state is used to compute the degree of isospin diffusion in an isospin-depedent transport model and the neutron skin thickness in the Hartree-Fock approximation. We find that skin thicknesses less than 0.15 fm are excluded by the isospin diffusion data.
The dependence between neutron-to-proton yield ratio ($R_{np}$) and neutron skin thickness ($δ_{np}$) in neutron-rich projectile induced reactions is investigated within the framework of the Isospin-Dependent Quantum Molecular Dynamics (IQMD) model. The density distribution of the Droplet model is embedded in the initialization of the neutron and proton densities in the present IQMD model. By adjusting the diffuseness parameter of neutron density in the Droplet model for the projectile, the relationship between the neutron skin thickness and the corresponding $R_{np}$ in the collisions is obta…
Probing the neutron-skin thickness through $J/ψ$ photoproduction in ultra-peripheral collisions
Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院上海应用物理研究所）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；Fudan University（复旦大学）；East China Normal University（华东师范大学）
The neutron density distributions and neutron skin thicknesses in $^{40,48}$Ca are determined from the angular distributions of the cross sections and analyzing powers of polarized proton elastic scattering at $E_p = 295$ MeV. Based on the framework of the relativistic impulse approximation with the density-dependent effective $NN$ interaction, the experimental data is successfully analyzed, providing precise information of neutron and proton density profiles of $^{40,48}$Ca with small uncertainties. The extracted neutron and proton density distributions give neutron skin thicknesses in $^{40,…
Available experimental neutron skin thicknesses of even-even stable Ca, Ni, Sn, Pb, and Cd isotopes are evaluated, and separate trends of neutron skin thickness versus relative neutron excess $δ=(N-Z)/A$ are firstly observed for different isotopic chains. This phenomenon is quantitatively reproduced by the deformed Skyrme Hartree-Fock $+$ BCS model with SLy4 force.
We discuss neutron matter calculations based on chiral effective field theory interactions and their predictions for the symmetry energy, the neutron skin of 208 Pb, and for the radius of neutron stars.
The symmetry energy for nuclear matter and its relation to the neutron skin in finite nuclei is discussed. The symmetry energy as a function of density obtained in a self-consistent Green function approach is presented and compared to the results of other recent theoretical approaches. A partial explanation of the linear relation between the symmetry energy and the neutron skin is proposed. The potential of several experimental methods to extract the neutron skin is examined.
Within an isospin- and momentum-dependent transport model IBUU11 using as an input nucleon density profiles from Hartree-Fock calculations based on a modified Skyrme-like (MSL) model, we study the influence of the uncertainty of the neutron skin thickness on the $π^{-}/π^{+}$ ratio in both central and peripheral Pb+Pb collisions at beam energies of 400 MeV/nucleon and 1000 MeV/nucleon. Within the current experimental uncertainty range of neutron skin in $^{208}$Pb, while the neutron skin effect on the \rpi ratio is negligible in central reactions at both energies, it increases gradually with i…
We show that the yield ratio of free spectator neutrons produced in high-energy $^{96}$Zr+$^{96}$Zr to $^{96}$Ru+$^{96}$Ru collisions is a clean probe of the neutron-skin thickness of colliding nuclei and the slope parameter $L$ of the symmetry energy. The idea is demonstrated based on the proton and neutron density distributions via a state-of-the-art Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov calculation. Among spectator nucleons given by the Glauber model, free spectator neutrons include those from direct production that survive from clusterization as well as those from deexcitation of heavy clusters d…
Neutron Skin Effects on Particle Emission in Heavy-Ion Collisions: A Topic Review with Astrophysical and Nuclear Structure Connections
Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Ion-beam Application (MOE), Institute of Modern Physics, Fudan University（复旦大学现代物理研究所）；Shanghai Research Center for Theoretical Nuclear Physics, NSFC and Fudan University（复旦大学理论核物理上海研究中心）；School of Physics, East China Normal University（华东师范大学物理系）
A method is presented to extract the neutron-skin thickness of atomic nuclei from the second and fourth moments of the electric charge distribution. We show that the value of the proton fourth moment must be independently known in order to estimate the neutron skin thickness experimentally. To overcome this problem, we propose the use of a strong linear correlation among the second and fourth moments of the proton distribution as calculated with several energy density functionals of common use. We take special care in estimating the errors associated with the different contributions to the neu…
Neutron-rich nuclei and neutron skins from chiral low-resolution interactions
Université Paris-Saclay（巴黎萨克雷大学）；CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab（法国国家科学研究中心/欧洲核子研究组织，IJCLab）；Helmholtz Forschungsakademie Hessen für FAIR (HFHF)（黑森州亥姆霍兹FAIR研究院）；GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH（德国重离子研究中心）；ExtreMe Matter Institute EMMI（极端物质研究所）；Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik（马克斯·普朗克核物理研究所）；Technische Universität Darmstadt（达姆施塔特工业大学）
It has been recently suggested that differences in the charge radii of mirror nuclei are proportional to the neutron-skin thickness of neutron-rich nuclei and to the slope of the symmetry energy $L$ [B.A. Brown Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 122502 (2017)]. The determination of the neutron skin has important implications for nuclear physics and astrophysics. Although the use of electroweak probes provides a largely model-independent determination of the neutron skin, the experimental challenges are enormous. Thus, the possibility that differences in the charge radii of mirror nuclei may be used as a su…
The relation between the slope of the nuclear symmetry energy at saturation density and the neutron skin thickness is investigated. Constraints on the slope of the symmetry energy are deduced from the neutron skin data obtained in experiments with antiprotonic atoms. Two types of neutron skin are distinguished: the "surface" and the "bulk". A combination of both types forms neutron skin in most of nuclei. A prescription to calculate neutron skin thickness and the slope of symmetry energy parameter $L$ from the parity violating asymmetry measured in the PREX experiment is proposed.
Background: The density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy is crucial in determining several properties of finite nuclei to the neutron stars with mass $\sim$ 1.4 $M_\odot$. The values of neutron skin thickness, isovector giant dipole resonances energies and various nuclear reaction cross-sections in asymmetric nuclei have been utilized to determine the slope of symmetry energy ($L_0$) at the saturation density. Recent PREX-II and CREX measurements of neutron skin thickness in $^{208}$Pb and $^{48}$Ca nuclei yield very different values of $L_0$ which overlap marginally within 90$\%$ confide…
This paper presents an analysis of neutron skins based on fully microscopic equations of state, including chiral two- and three-nucleon forces consistently at N3LO. Other theoretical predictions and recent constraints are also addressed, such as those from the PREX II experiment and the latest parity-violating electron scattering measurement of the 27Al neutron skin.
We analyze total reaction cross sections, $σ_R$, for exploring their sensitivity to the neutron-skin thickness of nuclei. We cover 91 nuclei of O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ca, and Ni isotopes. The cross sections are calculated in the Glauber theory using the density distributions obtained with the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock method in 3-dimensional coordinate space. Defining a reaction radius, $a_R=\sqrt{σ_R/π}$, to characterize the nuclear size and target (proton or $^{12}$C) dependence, we find an empirical formula for expressing $a_R$ with the point matter radius and the skin thickness, and assess two practi…
