%0 Journal Article
%T Density slope of the nuclear symmetry energy from the neutron skin thickness of heavy nuclei
%A Lie-Wen Chen
%A Che Ming Ko
%A Bao-An Li
%A Jun Xu
%J Physics
%D 2010
%I arXiv
%R 10.1103/PhysRevC.82.024321
%X Expressing explicitly the parameters of the standard Skyrme interaction in terms of the macroscopic properties of asymmetric nuclear matter, we show in the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock approach that unambiguous correlations exist between observables of finite nuclei and nuclear matter properties. We find that existing data on neutron skin thickness $\Delta r_{np}$ of Sn isotopes give an important constraint on the symmetry energy $E_{sym}({\rho _{0}})$ and its density slope $L$ at saturation density ${\rho _{0}}$. Combining these constraints with those from recent analyses of isospin diffusion and double neutron/proton ratio in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies leads to a more stringent limit on $L$ approximately independent of $E_{sym}({\rho _{0}})$. The implication of these new constraints on the $\Delta r_{np}$ of $^{208}$Pb as well as the core-crust transition density and pressure in neutron stars is discussed.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1004.4672v2