Determination of the neutron skin of 208Pb from ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions
Emergent bulk properties of matter governed by the strong nuclear force give rise to physical phenomena across vastly different scales, ranging from the shape of atomic nuclei to the masses and radii of neutron stars. They can be accessed on Earth by measuring the spatial extent of the outer skin ma...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
15 November 2023
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| In: |
Physical review letters
Year: 2023, Volume: 131, Issue: 20, Pages: 1-6 |
| ISSN: | 1079-7114 |
| DOI: | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.202302 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.202302 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.202302 
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| Author Notes: | Giuliano Giacalone, Govert Nijs, Wilke van der Schee |
| Summary: | Emergent bulk properties of matter governed by the strong nuclear force give rise to physical phenomena across vastly different scales, ranging from the shape of atomic nuclei to the masses and radii of neutron stars. They can be accessed on Earth by measuring the spatial extent of the outer skin made of neutrons that characterizes the surface of heavy nuclei. The isotope 208Pb, owing to its simple structure and neutron excess, has been in this context the target of many dedicated efforts. Here, we determine the neutron skin from measurements of particle distributions and their collective flow in 208Pb+208Pb collisions at ultrarelativistic energy performed at the Large Hadron Collider, which are mediated by interactions of gluons and thus sensitive to the overall size of the colliding 208Pb ions. By means of state-of-the-art global analysis tools within the hydrodynamic model of heavy-ion collisions, we infer a neutron skin Δ𝑟𝑛𝑝=0.217±0.058 fm, consistent with nuclear theory predictions, and competitive in accuracy with a recent determination from parity-violating asymmetries in polarized electron scattering. We establish thus a new experimental method to systematically measure neutron distributions in the ground state of atomic nuclei. |
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| Item Description: | Im Titel ist die Zahl 208 hochgestellt Gesehen am 07.11.2024 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1079-7114 |
| DOI: | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.202302 |