A theoretical study of halo structure using elastic proton-nucleus scattering

Elastic proton scattering from Be, C, and O isotopes has been investigated in the relativistic impulse approximation (RIA). In the calculations, the nucleon-nucleus optical potentials are obtained using ground state nuclear matter densities, which are computed using the relativistic mean field model with the FSU parameter set. The scattering observables, including differential cross section, analyzing power, and spin-rotation function, are analyzed. It is found that the scattering observables for O isotopic chains display a clear mass dependence, for instance, the minimum analyzing power shifts to a low scattering angle with increasing mass number. While for the Be isotopic chain, the emergence of a neutron halo in Be-14 breaks this trend, i.e., the minimum analyzing powers for Be-12 and Be-14 are almost the same as each other.