Electromagnetic strength of neutron and proton single-particle halo nuclei Original Research Article

Electromagnetic strength functions of halo nuclei exhibit universal features that can be described in terms of characteristic scale parameters. For a nucleus with nucleon + core structure the reduced transition probability, as determined, e.g., by Coulomb dissociation experiments, shows a typical shape that depends on the nucleon separation energy and the orbital angular momenta in the initial and final states. The sensitivity to the final-state interaction (FSI) between the nucleon and the core can be studied systematically by varying the strength of the interaction in the continuum. In the case of neutron + core nuclei analytical results for the reduced transition probabilities are obtained by introducing the effective-range expansion. The scaling with the relevant parameters is found explicitly. General trends are observed by studying several examples of neutron + core and proton + core nuclei in a single-particle model assuming Woods–Saxon potentials. Many important features of the neutron halo case can be obtained from a square-well model. Rather simple analytical formulas are found. The nucleon–core interaction in the continuum affects the determination of astrophysical S factors at zero energy in the method of asymptotic normalisation coefficients (ANC). It is also relevant for the extrapolation of radiative capture cross sections to low energies.