Neutron Optical Potentials in Unstable Nuclei and the Equation of State of Asymmetric Nuclear Matter

摘要

Neutron single particle potential is one of the basic macroscopic properties to describe structure and reactions of nuclei in nuclear reactors and in the universe. However, the potential is quite uncertain for unstable nuclei primarily because the equation of state (EOS) of asymmetric nuclear matter is not known well. The present authors studied systematically the empirical EOS of asymmetric nuclear matter using a macroscopic nuclear model; about two hundred EOS's having empirically allowed values of L (symmetry energy density derivative coefficient) and K_0 (incompressibility) were obtained from the fittings to masses and radii of stable nuclei. It was suggested that the L value could be determined from global (Z, A) dependence of nuclear radii. In the present study, the single particle potential is examined assuming kinetic energies of non-interacting Fermi gases. The potential in a nucleus can be calculated easily, once the density distribution is solved using the effective nuclear interaction (EOS). Neutron and proton single particle potentials are calculated systematically for ~(80)Ni using the two hundred EOS's. It is found that the neutron-proton potential difference has clear and appreciable L dependence, while the potential for each species does not show such simple dependence on L.