Electroweak Measurements of Neutron Densities in PREX and CREX at JLab, USA

Abstract

Measurement of the parity-violating electron scattering asymmetry from ${}^{208}$Pb has demonstrated a new opportunity at Jefferson Lab to measure the weak charge distribution and hence pin down the neutron radius in nuclei in a relatively clean and model-independent way. This is because the Z boson of the weak interaction couples primarily to neutrons. We will describe the PREX and CREX experiments on ${}^{208}$Pb and ${}^{48}$Ca respectively. PREX-I ran in 2010, and CREX and a second run of PREX are currently in preparation.