AP-EXP-SPECTROSCOPY-03

Nuclear Charge Radius of Lithium-11

R. S nchez,1 W. Nrtershuser,1,2,3 G. Ewald,1,2 D. Albers,4 J. Behr,4 P. Bricault,4 B. Bushaw,5 a o a A. Dax,1 J. Dilling,4 M. Dombsky,4 G.W.F. Drake,6 S. Gtte,1 R. Kirchner,1 H.-J. Kluge,1,7 o Th. Khl,1,3 J. Lassen,4 C.D.P. Levi,4 M.R. Pearson,4 E. Prime,4 V. Ryjkov,4 u A. Wojtaszek,1, Z.-C. Yan,8 and C. Zimmermann2 1 GSI, Darmstadt, Germany; 2 Univ. Tbingen, Germany; 3 Univ. Mainz, Germany; u 4 TRIUMF, Vancouver BC, Canada; 5 PNNL, Richland, USA; 6 Univ. Windsor, Canada; 7 Univ. Heidelberg, Germany; 8 Univ. New Brunswick, Canada.

The nucleus of the isotope 11 Li exhibits a halo structurea diluted two-neutron component surrounding a 9 Li-like core [1]. An important question that has not been rmly established up to now is whether the 9 Li core is decoupled from the halo in the sense that is not modi ed from the free 9 Li. This can be determined by observing a change in the nuclear charge radius from 9 Li to 11 Li. A measurement of the isotope shift in an atomic transition provides model-independent values for the nuclear charge radius. A shift in frequency (the isotope shift) of a spectral resonance is produced by the change in the nuclear mass (mass shift) and the nuclear charge distribution ( eld shift). In the case of lithium the mass shift is 105 times larger than the eld shift. Therefore both, high resolution isotope shift measurements and accurate atomic calculations for the mass shift are required to be able to extract nuclear charge radius information with a relative precision of few percents. Recently this could be accomplished. On the experimental side, an on-line laser and mass spectroscopic technique was developed at GSI [2] to overcome the short half-live and low abundance of the radioactive lithium isotopes. The isotope shift in the 2s 2 S 1/2 3s 2 S 1/2 Doppler-free twophoton electronic transition of all lithium isotopes could be measured at a 105 level. The experiments were performed for 69 Li at GSI in 2003 [3] and for 611 Li at TRIUMF in 2004 [4]. On the theoretical side [5], the quantum mechanical three-electron problem for low Z was solved to high accuracy in the non-relativistic limit and the effects of relativity and QED were included by perturbation theory. Nuclear charge radii of Li isotopes extracted from the combination of isotope shift measurements and mass shifts calculations are shown in Fig. 1 [4]. The charge radius decreases continuously from 6 Li to 9 Li and increases from 2.217(35) fm to 2.467(37) fm for 11 Li. Different nuclear theoretical predictions are also shown. From those models which were able to predict the 11 Li charge radius, the Stochastic Variational Multi-Cluster Model show the best agreement with the experimental result. This model considers light nuclei as composed of smaller clusters namely
Supported by BMBF Contract No. 06TU203 and EU/FP6 EURONS (see Annex). Supported by a Marie-Curie Fellowship of the EU Community Programme IHP, Contract No. HPMT-CT-2000-00197.

2.7

nuclear charge radius (fm)

2.6

2.5

2.4

2.3

2.2

2.1

10

11

Li Isotope

Figure 1: Experimental charge radii of lithium isotopes () compared with theoretical predictions: : GreensFunction Monte Carlo Calculations, : Stochastic Variational Multi-Cluster Model, : Fermionic Molecular Dynamics, : Dynamic Correlation Model, and : ab-initio No-Core Shell Model. the particle, the triton nucleus, and the nucleons p and n. This clustering allows to focus on those degrees of freedom thought to be the most relevant to the physical behavior of a given nucleus. Calculations for 11 Li were performed including neutron correlations as well as polarization of the 9 Li core by the halo neutrons. If core-excitation is not included, the model predicts a much smaller charge radius, only slightly larger than that of 9 Li. Thus, in the frame of this model it is possible to conclude that perturbations of the core are a signi cant contribution and must be included in order to reproduce the increase to the charge radius of 11 Li.

References
[1] A. S. Jensen et al., Rev. Mod. Phys. 76, 215 (2004). [2] W. Nrtershuser et. al., NIMB 204, 644 (2003). o a [3] G. Ewald et al., PRL 93, 113002 (2004). [4] R. S nchez et al., PRL 96, 033002 (2006). a [5] Z.-C. Yan, G. W. F. Drake, PRA 66, 042504 (2002).

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