Fine Structure in Nuclear Charge Distribution

Abstract

The original elastic electron scattering experiments on nuclei produced charge distributions that were characterized by two basic parameters; the half-density radius r_0.5 and the skin thickness t . It was possible using a phenomenological charge distribution, containing only these two parameters, to fit the experimental data from a wide range of nuclei. This situation has changed considerably in recent years. The amount of experimental cross sections in existence has increased and the data has been extended to higher values of the recoil momentum q . The ability to measure cross sections at larger values of q together with the better accuracy of the experimental data allows details of the charge distribution to be seen that were previously unobservable.