Local scale transformations and extended matter distributions in nuclei

Abstract

Local scale transformations are made to vary the long range properties of harmonic oscillator orbitals conventionally used in model structure calculations of nuclear systems. The transformations ensure that those oscillator states asymptotically have exponentially decaying forms consistent with chosen single nucleon binding energies, leaving the structure essentially unchanged within the body of the nucleus. Application has been made to the radioactive nuclei 6,8He and 11Li and the resulting wave functions are used to generate g-folding optical potentials for elastic scattering of those ions from hydrogen. As a consistency test, application has been made to form wave functions for 40Ca and they have been used also to specify relevant proton-40Ca optical potentials with which elastic scattering has been predicted. The need for appropriate specifications of single particle binding energies in exotic nuclei is discussed.