Halo effective field theory analysis of one-neutron knockout reactions of Be11 and C15

Abstract

Background: One-nucleon knockout reactions provide insightful information on the single-particle structure of nuclei. When applied to one-neutron halo nuclei, they are purely peripheral, suggesting that they could be properly modeled by describing the projectile within a Halo Effective Field Theory (Halo-EFT). Purpose: We reanalyze the one-neutron knockout measurements of $^{11}$Be and $^{15}$C-both one-neutron halo nuclei-on beryllium at about 60MeV/nucleon. We consider Halo-EFT descriptions of these nuclei which already provide excellent agreement with breakup and transfer data. Method: We include a Halo-EFT description of the projectile within an eikonal-based model of the reaction and compare its outcome to existing data. Results: Excellent agreement with experiment is found for both nuclei. The asymptotic normalization coefficients inferred from this comparison confirm predictions from \emph{ab initio} nuclear-structure calculations and values deduced from transfer data. Conclusions: Halo-EFT can be reliably used to analyze one-neutron knockout reactions measured for halo nuclei and test predictions from state-of-the-art nuclear structure models on these experimental data.