Momentum distributions of nucleons in nuclei

We present a microscopic evaluation of nuclear momentum distributions for the ground states of ⁴He and ¹⁶O. The momentum distribution is the sum of a single particle part and a correlation part. Beyond a momentum of 2 fm^?1 the correlation part becomes dominating and exceeds the single particle part by arbitrary orders of magnitude for sufficiently high momenta. Even a quite crude experimental determination of momentum distributions would yield extremely useful information on nuclear correlations.     

Longitudinal momentum distributions in stripping reactions with halo nuclei

Differential cross sections and longitudinal momentum distributions of observed particles are calculated for stripping reactions that result from diffractive interaction between halo nuclei and targets. The applicability of different analytic methods of calculation is considered. The advantages of an improved approximation of small target radius are demonstrated for valent halo nucleon absorption radii of 2–4 fm in describing momentum distributions in particular.     

Momentum distributions in nuclei measured with relativistic heavy ions

In a peripheral reaction between relativistic heavy ions, where one nucleon is knocked out of the projectile, the momentum distribution of the remaining fragment reflects the momentum distribution of the knocked out nucleon. This has been proven in a previous paper. Here we study how the final-state interaction between the knocked out nucleon and the observed fragment influences the result: The real part of the optical potential which describes the final-state interaction shifts the experimental momentum distribution by a value 〈k_∥〉 of a few tens of MeV/c and the imaginary part reduces the cross sections by a factor 2 roughly. We also derive the cross section for a proton as target.     

Nuclear-matter distributions of halo nuclei from elastic proton scattering in inverse kinematics

Proton-nucleus elastic scattering at intermediate energies, a well-established method for probing nuclear-matter density distributions of stable nuclei, was applied for the first time to exotic nuclei. This method is demonstrated to be an effective means for obtaining accurate and detailed information on the size and radial shape of halo nuclei. Absolute differential cross-sections for small-angle scattering were measured at energies near 700 MeV/u for the neutron-rich helium isotopes ⁶He and ⁸He, and more recently for the lithium isotopes ⁶Li, ⁸Li, ⁹Li and ¹¹Li, using He and Li beams provided by the fragment separator FRS at GSI Darmstadt. Experiments were performed in inverse kinematics using the hydrogen-filled ionization chamber IKAR which served simultaneously as target and recoil-proton detector. For deducing nuclear-matter distributions, differential cross-sections calculated with the aid of the Glauber multiple-scattering theory, using various parametrizations for the nucleon density distributions as input, were fitted to the experimental cross-sections. The results on nuclear-matter radii and matter distributions are presented, and the significance of the data for a halo structure is discussed. Nuclear-matter distributions obtained for ⁶He and ⁸He conform with the concept that both nuclei compose of α-particle like cores and significant neutron halos. The matter distribution in ¹¹Li exhibits, as expected from previous reaction cross-section studies with nuclear targets, the by far most extended halo component of all nuclei being investigated. In addition the present data allow a quantitative comparison of the structure of the He and Li isobares of either the mass number A = 6 or A = 8. The measured differential cross-sections have also been used for probing density distributions as predicted from various microscopic calculations. A few examples are presented. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: p.egelhof@gsi.de     

Isospin in halo nuclei: Borromean halo,tango halo,and halo isomers

It is shown that the wave functions for isobaric analog, double isobaric analog, configuration, and double configuration states may simultaneously have components corresponding to nn, np, and pp halos. The difference in the halo structure between the ground and excited states of a nucleus may lead to the formation of halo isomers. A halo structure of both Borromean and tango types can be observed for np configurations. The structure of ground and excited states with various isospins in halo-like nuclei is discussed. The reduced probabilities B(Mλ) and B(Eλ) for gamma transitions in ^6?8Li, ^8?10Be, ^8,10,11B, ^10?14C, ^13?17N, ^15?17,19O, and ¹⁷F nuclei are analyzed. Particular attention is given to the cases where the ground state of a nucleus does not have a halo structure, but where its excited state may have it.     

Remarks on halo nuclei

On the ground of a relationship between the rms radius and the separation energy, we compare halo nuclei to diffuse diatomics. It underlines the essential difference between these two kinds of weakly bound systems: whereas the two-body approximation seems well justified in the case of diatomics, it becomes questionable in the nuclear case when the separation energy approaches zero. Because of this particular situation, we conjecture that the Efimov states have less chances to be observed in nuclear than in molecular cases. Discussing possibilities of measuring accurately the rms radius of halo wave function, we propose a strategy based on the parallel momentum distribution measured in dissociation experiments, together with the use of an Abel transform.     

Momentum distributions in the nucleus

The nuclear form factor F(q) and one particle momentum distribution p(q) can be shown to have a power law decrease for large momenta. For the form factor F(q) we show that it is q/A that must be large for this asymptotic behavior to be important. For only q large the form factor, in a simple model, is shown to decrease exponentially in q. A similar behavior for p(q) is proposed.     

Nature of halo in light nuclei

A feature peculiar to light neutron-rich nuclei is that their lowest decay thresholds are only slightly above their ground states. Among them, ⁶He and ¹¹Li are two most striking examples. The energy needed to break ⁶He (¹¹Li) into an alpha particle (⁹Li) and two neutrons is about 1 MeV (300 keV). So small a value prompts one to construct their theory by analogy with the zero-range-nuclear-force approximation previously applied to the deuteron. A more detailed analysis shows, however, that the simple version of this approximation applied to systems that decay through a three-particle channel does not take into account some important features of these systems and requires significant improvements. First, with increasing distance between three particles, the potential energy decreases, in contrast to what is observed for binary systems, in inverse proportion to the hyperradius cubed. Second, the Pauli exclusion principle adds complexity even in the asymptotic domain, and we meet its demands in constructing the ⁶He and ¹¹Li wave functions in the continuum. An approach is proposed to analyze weakly bound three-cluster systems that takes into account the aforementioned features and which describes correctly the experimentally observed structure of bound and unbound states above the threshold for three-particle decay.     

Breakup reactions of halo nuclei

Different reaction mechanisms of breakup reactions are discussed and the microscopic reaction model for two-neutron halo dissociation is presented. Some examples of halo breakup in reactions with electrons, nucleons, and nuclei are given.     

Two-body and three-body halo nuclei

We have extracted the nuclear asymptotic normalization coefficients (ANC) for the virtual transitions B→A+N via some transfer reactions and the radioactive nuclear beam experiments. With these coefficients, root-mean-square (rms) radii for the valence particle in some possible halo nuclei have been calculated. The values of rms radii extracted with ANC approach are nearly model-independent, hence are a good quantity for the investigation of nuclear halo. In addition, we have also calculated the rms radii for the two valence neutrons in some three-body systems in terms of the relationship between the radii of valence particle, core nucleus and nuclear matter. With two conditions for nuclear halo formation, we have examined these extracted rms radii. The results show that 11Be(1/2+, g.s), 12B(1-, 2.621 MeV), 13C(1/2+, 3.089 MeV), 14C(0-, 6.903 MeV), 14C(1-, 6.094 MeV), 15C(1/2+, g.s) and 19C(1/2+, g.s) with the valence particle in the 2s ground or excited state are the neutron halo nuclei, whereas 17F(1/2+, 0.495 MeV) and 21Na(1/2+, 2.423 MeV) are the proton halo nuclei in the excited state. For three-body systems, except the well-established two-neutron halo nuclei 6He and 11Li, 14Be and 17B might be the two-neutron halo nuclei as well.     

Efimov effect in 2-neutron halo nuclei

This paper presents an overview of our theoretical investigations in search of Efimov states in light 2-neutron halo nuclei. The calculations have been carried out within a three-body formalism, assuming a compact core and two valence neutrons forming the halo. The calculations provide strong evidence for the occurrence of at least two Efimov states in ²⁰C nucleus. These excited states move into the continuum as the two-body (core-neutron) binding energy is increased and show up as asymmetric resonances in the elastic scattering cross-section of the n-¹⁹C system. The Fano mechanism is invoked to explain the asymmetry. The calculations have been extended to ³⁸Mg, ³²Ne and a hypothetical case of a very heavy core (A = 100) with two valence neutrons. In all these cases the Efimov states show up as resonances as the two-body energy is increased. However, in sharp contrast, the Efimov states, for a system of three equal masses, show up as virtual states beyond a certain value of the two-body interaction.     

Ground state properties of halo nuclei

By a rescaling both the kinetic and potential energy terms of the harmonic oscillator in conventional shell model(SM) and a mean field imitating, a self-similar-structure shell model(SSM) in which the single-particle orbits have state- or orbit-dependent frequencies was proposed to extend the SM calculations to light nuclei near the neutron drip line.     

Breakup reactions of two-neutron halo nuclei

Investigation of reactions initiated in collisions of beams of unstable nuclei with nuclear targets has resulted in the discovery of a new type of nuclear structure, the halo, in some light nuclei at the boundary of nucleon stability. A survey of different reactions with two-neutron halo nuclei and their use for gaining information on the structure of exotic nuclei is presented. Kinematically complete breakup reactions, which provide the possibility of obtaining quite reliable information on the structure of the ground state and the continuum of nuclei, are considered in detail. The microscopic four-body model of breakup reactions for two-neutron halo nuclei with account of characteristic specific features of their structure is formulated. The model is based on the distorted wave approximation and is applicable for analysis of low excitations of the continuum near the breakup threshold, the region most sensitive to manifestation of specific features of the halo structure. The described approach enables the calculation of all observables of kinematically complete experiments in nucleus-nucleus collisions at intermediate energies for which one-step processes dominate, and creates the basis for the spectroscopy of continua via successive analysis of various correlation cross sections available in kinematically complete experiments.     

Ground state properties of halo nuclei

By a rescaling both the kinetic and potential energy terms of the harmonic oscillator in conventional shell model(SM) and a mean field imitating, a self-similar-structure shell model(SSM) in which the single-particle orbits have state- or orbit-dependent frequencies was proposed to extend the SM calculations to light nuclei near the neutron drip line.     

One-neutron knockout reaction of halo nuclei

Full Faddeev-type calculations are performed for one-neutron knockout from ¹¹Be on a proton target at 38.4 and 200MeV/u incident energies. Semi-inclusive cross-sections are calculated and the results are compared with the Plane-Wave Impulse Approximation (PWIA).     

Helium halo nuclei from low-momentum interactions

We present ground-state energies of helium halo nuclei based on chiral low-momentum interactions, using the hyperspherical-harmonics method for ⁶He and coupled-cluster theory for ⁸He , with correct asymptotics for the extended halo structure.     

Reaction mechanisms for light halo nuclei

Current nuclear physics focuses on exploring nucleon matter under extreme conditions, such as those that can be created in modern accelerator laboratories. On the neutron-rich side of stability, radioactive beams have already led to the discovery of halos in nuclei with neutron distributions extending to large distances. Halo nuclei are composite systems with prominent features of few-body correlations, which reveal themselves in various reactions involving these systems. We will discuss experiments that probe a halo structure through studying various reactions involving halo nuclei, with special emphasis on how, from the theoretical point of view, such reactions contribute to our knowledge of the structure and dynamics of the nuclear halo.     

Density distributions in nuclei

Density distribution across the nuclear surface is obtained in the approximation of relatively sharp nuclear edge. It is used to determine dynamical parts of the density relevant to density vibration resonances. Results of the simple calculations are in close agreement with detailed microscopic theories.