Three-Body Forces and the Limit of Oxygen Isotopes
- Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)
- Department of Physics, College of Humanities and Sciences, Nihon University, Sakurajosui 3, Tokyo 156-8550 (Japan)
- TRIUMF, 4004 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2A3 (Canada)
- RIKEN Nishina Center, Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan)
The limit of neutron-rich nuclei, the neutron drip line, evolves regularly from light to medium-mass nuclei except for a striking anomaly in the oxygen isotopes. This anomaly is not reproduced in shell-model calculations derived from microscopic two-nucleon forces. Here, we present the first microscopic explanation of the oxygen anomaly based on three-nucleon forces that have been established in few-body systems. This leads to repulsive contributions to the interactions among excess neutrons that change the location of the neutron drip line from {sup 28}O to the experimentally observed {sup 24}O. Since the mechanism is robust and general, our findings impact the prediction of the most neutron-rich nuclei and the synthesis of heavy elements in neutron-rich environments.
- OSTI ID:
- 21410915
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.032501; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 0031-9007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Continuum Effects and Three-Nucleon Forces in Neutron-Rich Oxygen Isotopes
Structure of Neutron-rich Calcium Isotopes and Roles of Three-body Interaction
Related Subjects
INTERACTIONS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
LIGHT NUCLEI
NEUTRON-RICH ISOTOPES
NEUTRONS
NUCLEAR FORCES
OXYGEN 24
OXYGEN 28
OXYGEN ISOTOPES
SHELL MODELS
THREE-BODY PROBLEM
BARYONS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FERMIONS
HADRONS
ISOTOPES
MANY-BODY PROBLEM
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MILLISECONDS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NUCLEAR MODELS
NUCLEI
NUCLEONS
RADIOISOTOPES