A possible experimental observable for the determination of neutron skin thickness

Abstract

The dependence between neutron skin thickness and neutron abrasion cross section (σnabr) for neutron-rich nuclei is investigated within the framework of the statistical abrasion ablation model. Assuming that the density distributions for proton and neutron are of Fermi-type, and adjusting the diffuseness parameter of neutron density distribution in the droplet model, we find out the good linear correlation between the neutron skin thickness and the abrasion cross section σnabr for neutron-rich nuclei. The uncertainty of neutron skin thickness determined from σnabr is very small. It is suggested that σnabr can be used as a new experimental observable to extract the neutron skin thickness for neutron-rich nucleus. The scaling behaviours between neutron skin thickness and σnabr, separately, for isotopes of 26–35Na, 44–56Ar, 48–60Ca, 67–78Ni are also investigated.