Dispersive-optical-model analysis of the asymmetry dependence of neutron skins

Abstract

New dispersive optical model analyses of ${}^{54}$Fe and ${}^{90}$Zr together with updated results for ${}^{40}$Ca, ${}^{48}$Ca, and the earlier result for ${}^{208}$Pb shed light on the behavior of neutron skins in nuclei. Starting with a negative skin for ${}^{40}$Ca, a trend increasing somewhat stronger than linear emerges when the neutron skin of these nuclei is considered as a function of asymmetry, $(N-Z)/A$, and linked to the Green's function Monte Carlo results for asymmetric He nuclei. This general trend is consistent with the expectation that nuclei near the neutron drip line are expected to have very large neutron skins. The present analysis therefore motivates the question of which nuclei provide the most relevant link to neutron star physics.