Compu&ngthesizeoftheatomicnucleuscalcium-48
Objec,ves
Impact
§  Determinethesizeoftheatomicnucleuscalcium-48.Forthenucleus
calcium-48,whichconsistsof20protonsand28neutrons,theneutron
distribu>onextendsbeyondtheprotondistribu>onandtherebysets
theactualsizeofthenucleus
§  NeutronradiuswillbemeasuredbytheCREX(CalciumRadiusEXperiment)atJeffersonLaboratory,andthe
dipolepolarizabilityispresentlybeinganalyzedbythe
Darmstadt-Osakacollabora>on
§  Thesizeoftheatomicnucleus48Caimpactsthesizeofa
neutronstar
§  Knowledgeoftheneutronskinofatomicnucleisofar
mostlybasedonnuclearDFT
§  Theatomicnucleuscalcium-48providesamee>ngpoint
forab-ini>ocomputa>onsandcalcula>onsbasedon
nuclearDFT
§  Ab-ini>ocomputa>onoftheneutronandweak-chargedistribu>onsof
48Cabasedonstate-of-the-artop>mizedchiraleffec>veinterac>ons
§  Provideaconstraintontheradiusofaneutronstar
§  Provideacri>calbridgebetweenstate-of-the-artabini,ocalcula>ons
andcalcula>onsbasedonnucleardensityfunc>onaltheory(DFT)
Cap,on:Imageconnectsthe
first-principlescomputa,onof
thecalcium-48nucleuswith
theneutronstaratthecenter
oftheCrabNebula.
Understandingtheneutron
distribu,onofanatomic
nucleusallowsresearchersto
constrainthesizeofa
neutronstar.Theseobjects
differinsizeby18ordersof
magnitude.
Imagecredit:OakRidge
Na,onalLaboratory,U.S.
Dept.ofEnergy;conceptual
artbyLeJeanHardinand
AndySproles
Accomplishments
§  Computedthesizeofatomicnucleus48Cafrom
firstprinciples
§  Extendedthereachofreliableabini>o
computa>onstomedium-massnuclei
§  Revealedthattheneutronskinofcalcium-48is
significantlythinnerthanpreviouslythought,while
therelateddipolepolarizabilityisconsistentwith
calcula>onsbasedonnuclearDFT
§  Foundneutronskintobeindependentofthe
employedchiraleffec>veinterac>onsbetween
thecons>tuentnucleons—protonsandneutrons
Reference:G.Hagenetal.,NaturePhysics(2015),
doi:10.1038/nphys3529
Contact:G.Hagen,[email protected]