Measurement of the neutron radius of $^{208}\text{Pb}$ through parity violation in electron scattering

Abstract
We report the first measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry $A_{\text{PV}}$ in the elastic scattering of polarized electrons from $^{208}\text{Pb}. A_{\text{PV}}$ is sensitive to the radius of the neutron distribution $(R_n)$. The result $A_{PV}=0.656±0.060(\text{stat})±0.014(\text{syst})  \text{ppm}$ corresponds to a difference between the radii of the neutron and proton distributions $R_n−R_p=0.33^{+0.16}_{−0.18}  \text{fm}$ and provides the first electroweak observation of the neutron skin which is expected in a heavy, neutron-rich nucleus.
Description
Keywords
Neutron distributions, Neutron radii, Neutron-rich nuclei, Parity violation, Parity-violating asymmetry, Polarized electrons, Proton distributions, Atomic physics, Physics, Neutrons
Citation
Horowitz, C. J., Ahmed, Z., Jen, C. -., Rakhman, A., Souder, P. A., Dalton, M. M., . . . Urciuoli, G. M. (2012). Weak charge form factor and radius of $^{208}\text{Pb}$ through parity violation in electron scattering. Physical Review C - Nuclear Physics, 85(3). http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.112502
DOI
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Rights
© 2012 American Physical Society.
Type
Article