The effect of spin-orbit nuclear charge density corrections due to the anomalous magnetic moment on halonuclei

Abstract

In this paper we consider the contribution of the anomalous magnetic moments of protons and neutrons to the nuclear charge density. We show that the spin-orbit contribution to the mean-square charge radius, which has been neglected in recent nuclear calculations, can be important in light halonuclei. We estimate the size of the effect in helium, lithium, and beryllium nuclei. It is found that the spin-orbit contribution represents a ~2% correction to the charge density at the center of the Be-7 nucleus. We derive a simple expression for the correction to the mean-square charge radius due to the spin-orbit term and find that in light halonuclei it may be larger than the Darwin-Foldy term and comparable to finite size corrections. A comparison of experimental and theoretical mean-square radii including the spin-orbit contribution is presented.