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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Phys.
Sec. Nuclear Physics​
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphy.2024.1488428
This article is part of the Research Topic Neutron Skin Thickness in Atomic Nuclei: Current Status and Recent Theoretical, Experimental and Observational Developments View all 3 articles

Unveiling Radii and Neutron Skins of Unstable Atomic Nuclei via Nuclear Collisions

Provisionally accepted
Masaomi Tanaka Masaomi Tanaka 1*Wataru Horiuchi Wataru Horiuchi 2,3,4,5Mitsunori Fukuda Mitsunori Fukuda 6,7
  • 1 Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan
  • 2 Department of Physics, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
  • 3 Nambu Yoichiro Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (NITEP), Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
  • 4 RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator Science (RNC), Wako, Saitama, Japan
  • 5 Department of Physics, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
  • 6 Department of Physics, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
  • 7 SLiCS Center, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Total reaction, interaction, and charge-changing cross sections, which are kinds of cross sections standing for total nuclear collision probability in medium-to high-energy region from a few to several hundred MeV, have been extensively utilized to probe nuclear sizes especially for unstable nuclei. In this mini review, experimental techniques and recent findings from these cross sections are briefly overviewed. Additionally, two new methods to extract neutron skin thickness solely from the above cross sections are explained: One is utilizing the energy and isospin dependence of the total reaction cross sections, and the other is the combination of the total reaction and charge-changing cross section measurements.

    Keywords: total reaction cross sections, interaction cross sections, charge-changing cross sections, root-mean-square radii, Neutron skin thickness, Unstable nuclei

    Received: 30 Aug 2024; Accepted: 13 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tanaka, Horiuchi and Fukuda. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Masaomi Tanaka, Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Fukuoka, Japan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.