Investigation of constraints on few-neutron forces in neutron matter by empirical information on the neutron skin of 48Ca and 208Pb

Abstract

The neutron matter equation of state is calculated from two-neutron forces up to fifth order of the chiral expansion and the order-by-order convergence of the predictions is investigated. Based on these equations of state, the binding energies and the neutron and proton density distributions in 208Pb and 48Ca are derived, with particular attention to the neutron skins, the focal point of this paper. Anticipating future experiments which will provide reliable information on the weak charge density in nuclei, the theoretical uncertainties and the possibility of constraining the size of few-neutron forces in neutron matter are discussed.