Measuring the surface thickness of the weak charge density of nuclei

Abstract

The present PREX-II and CREX experiments are measuring the rms radius of the weak charge density of ${}^{208}$Pb and ${}^{48}$Ca. We discuss the feasibility of a new parity violating electron scattering experiment to measure the surface thickness of the weak charge density of a heavy nucleus. Once PREX-II and CREX have constrained weak radii, an additional parity violating measurement at a momentum transfer near 0.76 fm${}^{-1}$ for ${}^{208}$Pb or 1.28 fm${}^{-1}$ for ${}^{48}$Ca can determine the surface thickness.

8 pages, 10 figures