Reactions and single-particle structure of nuclei near the drip lines Original Research Article

The techniques that have allowed the study of reactions of nuclei situated at or near the neutron or proton drip line are described. Nuclei situated just inside the drip line have low nucleon separation energies and, at most, a few bound states. If the angular momentum in addition is small, large halo states are formed where the wave function of the valency nucleon extends far beyond the nuclear radius. We begin with examples of the properties of nuclear halos and of their study in radioactive-beam experiments. We then turn to the continuum states existing above the particle threshold and also discuss the possibility of exciting them from the halo states in processes that may be thought of as “collateral damage”. Finally, we show that the experience from studies of halo states has pointed to knockout reactions as a new way to perform spectroscopic studies of more deeply bound non-halo states. Examples are given of measurements of l values and spectroscopic factors.