Probing the weakly-bound neutron orbit of ${}^{31}$Ne with total reaction and one-neutron removal cross sections

Abstract

A candidate of a neutron-halo nucleus, ${}^{31}$Ne, contains a single neutron in the $pf$ shell. Within the Glauber and eikonal models, we analyze reactions used to study ${}^{31}$Ne. We show in a ${}^{30}$Ne+n model that the magnitudes of the total reaction and above all of the one-neutron removal cross sections of ${}^{31}$Ne on ${}^{12}$C and ${}^{208}$Pb targets strongly depend on the orbital angular momentum of the neutron, thereby providing us with efficient ways to determine both the spin-parity and structure of the ground state of ${}^{31}$Ne. Besides these inclusive observables, we also calculate energy and parallel-momentum distributions for the breakup of ${}^{31}$Ne, and show their strong dependence upon the orbital of the valence neutron in the bound state of ${}^{31}$Ne.

19 pages, 10 figures, recent experimental data included, accepted for publication in Physical Review C