Neutron structure effects in the deuteron and one neutron halos

Abstract

Although the neutron ($n$) does not carry a total electric charge, its charge and magnetization distributions represented in momentum space by the electromagnetic form factors, ${F}_{1}^{(n)}({q}^{2})$ and ${F}_{2}^{(n)}({q}^{2})$, lead to an electromagnetic potential of the neutron. Using this fact, we calculate the electromagnetic corrections to the binding energy, ${B}_{d}$, of the deuteron and a one-neutron halo nucleus ($^{11}\mathrm{Be}$) by evaluating the neutron-proton and the neutron-charged core ($^{10}\mathrm{Be}$) potential, respectively. The correction to ${B}_{d}$ (\ensuremath{\sim}9 keV) is comparable to that arising due to the inclusion of the \ensuremath{\Delta}-isobar component in the deuteron wave function. In the case of the more loosely bound halo nucleus, $^{11}\mathrm{Be}$, the correction is close to about 2 keV.