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arXiv · 1401.3023

Probing the neutron skin thickness in collective modes of excitation

Abstract

Nuclear collective motion provides valuable constraint on the size of neutron-skin thickness and the properties of nuclear matter symmetry energy. By employing relativistic nuclear energy density functional (RNEDF) and covariance analysis related to $χ^2$ fitting of the model parameters, relevant observables are identified for dipole excitations, which strongly correlate with the neutron-skin thickness $(r_{np})$, symmetry energy at saturation density $(J)$ and slope of the symmetry energy $(L)$. Using the RNEDF framework and experimental data on pygmy dipole strength ($^{68}$Ni, $^{132}$Sn, $^{208}$Pb) and dipole polarizability ($^{208}$Pb), it is shown how the values of $J$, and $L$, and $r_{np}$ are constrained. The isotopic dependence of moments associated to dipole excitations in $^{116-136}$Sn shows that the low-energy dipole strength and polarizability in neutron-rich nuclei display strong sensitivity to the symmetry energy parameter $J$, more pronounced than in isotopes with moderate neutron-to-proton number ratios.

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Nils Paar, Andrea Horvat. 2014-01-13. Probing the neutron skin thickness in collective modes of excitation. https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf%2F20146602078

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