arXiv · 2102.10767
Accurate Determination of the Neutron Skin Thickness of $^{208}$Pb through Parity-Violation in Electron Scattering
Abstract
We report a precision measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry $A_{PV}$ in the elastic scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons from $^{208}$Pb. We measure $A_{PV}=550\pm 16 {\rm (stat)}\pm 8\ {\rm (syst)}$ parts per billion, leading to an extraction of the neutral weak form factor $F_W(Q^2 = 0.00616\ {\rm GeV}^2) = 0.368 \pm 0.013$. Combined with our previous measurement, the extracted neutron skin thickness is $R_n-R_p=0.283 \pm 0.071$~fm. The result also yields the first significant direct measurement of the interior weak density of $^{208}$Pb: $\rho^0_W = -0.0796\pm0.0036\ {\rm (exp.)}\pm0.0013\ {\rm (theo.)}\ {\rm fm}^{-3}$ leading to the interior baryon density $\rho^0_b = 0.1480\pm0.0036\ {\rm (exp.)}\pm0.0013\ {\rm (theo.)}\ {\rm fm}^{-3}$. The measurement accurately constrains the density dependence of the symmetry energy of nuclear matter near saturation density, with implications for the size and composition of neutron stars.
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D. Adhikari, H. Albataineh, D. Androic, K. Aniol, D. S. Armstrong, T. Averett, S. Barcus, V. Bellini, R. S. Beminiwattha, J. F. Benesch, H. Bhatt, D. Bhatta Pathak, D. Bhetuwal, B. Blaikie, Q. Campagna, A. Camsonne, G. D. Cates, Y. Chen, C. Clarke, J. C. Cornejo, S. Covrig Dusa, P. Datta, A. Deshpande, D. Dutta, C. Feldman, E. Fuchey, C. Gal, D. Gaskell, T. Gautam, C. Ayerbe Gayoso, M. Gericke, C. Ghosh, I. Halilovic, J. -O. Hansen, F. Hauenstein, W. Henry, C. J. Horowitz, C. Jantzi, S. Jian, S. Johnston, D. C. Jones, B. Karki, S. Katugampola, C. Keppel, P. M. King, D. E. King, M. Knauss, K. S. Kumar, T. Kutz, N. Lashley-Colthirst, G. Leverick, H. Liu, N. Liyange, S. Malace, R. Mammei, J. Mammei, M. McCaughan, D. McNulty, D. Meekins, C. Metts, R. Michaels, M. M. Mondal, J. Napolitano, A. Narayan, D. Nikolaev, M. N. H. Rashad, V. Owen, C. Palatchi, 14 J. Pan, B. Pandey, S. Park, K. D. Paschke, M. Petrusky, M. L. Pitt, S. Premathilake, A. J. R. Puckett, B. Quinn, R. Radloff, S. Rahman, A. Rathnayake, B. T. Reed, P. E. Reimer, R. Richards, S. Riordan, Y. Roblin, S. Seeds, A. Shahinyan, P. Souder, L. Tang, 16 M. Thiel, Y. Tian, G. M. Urciuoli, E. W. Wertz, B. Wojtsekhowski, B. Yale, T. Ye, A. Yoon, A. Zec, W. Zhang, J. Zhang. 2021-02-22. Accurate Determination of the Neutron Skin Thickness of $^{208}$Pb through Parity-Violation in Electron Scattering. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.126.172502
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