Origin of symmetry energy in finite nuclei and density dependence of nuclear matter symmetry energy from measured alpha-decay energies

Abstract

Based on the Skyrme energy density functional, the spatial distribution of the symmetry energy of a finite nucleus is derived in order to examine whether the symmetry energy of a finite nucleus originates from its interior or from its surface. It is found that the surface part of a heavy nucleus contributes dominantly to its symmetry energy compared to its inner part. The symmetry energy coefficient $a_{\text{sym}}(A)$ is then directly extracted and the ratio of the surface symmetry coefficient to the volume symmetry coefficient $\kappa$ is estimated. Meanwhile, with the help of experimental alpha decay energies, a macroscopic method is developed to determine the symmetry energy coefficient of heavy nuclei. The resultant $a_{\text{sym}}(A)$ is used to analyze the density dependence of the symmetry energy coefficient of nuclear matter around the saturation density, and furthermore, the neutron skin thickness of ${}^{208}\text{Pb}$ is deduced which is consistent with the pygmy dipole resonance analysis. In addition, it is shown that the ratio $\kappa$ obtained from the macroscopic method is in agreement with that from the Skyrme energy density functional. Thus the two completely different approaches may validate each other to achieve more compelling results.

6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. C

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Cited by in corpus (10)

• Constraining the high-density nuclear symmetry energy with the transverse-momentum dependent elliptic flow
• Density-dependent symmetry energy at subsaturation densities from nuclear mass differences
• Correlations between the nuclear matter symmetry energy, its slope, and curvature from a nonrelativistic solvable approach and beyond
• Constraints on neutron skin thickness in 208Pb and density-dependent symmetry energy
• Symmetry energy of hot nuclei in the relativistic Thomas-Fermi approximation
• Competition between Coulomb and Symmetry Potential in Semi-peripheral Heavy-ion Collisions
• Symmetry energy at subsaturation densities and the neutron skin thickness of 208Pb
• A new probe to study symmetry energy at low density by deuteron breakup reaction
• Basic quantities of the Equation of State in isospin asymmetric nuclear matter
• Isospin blocking and its effects in heavy-ion collisions