%0 Journal Article
%T Neutral $s$ States in Loosely Bound Nuclei
%A C. R. Hoffman
%A B. P. Kay
%A J. P. Schiffer
%J Physics
%D 2013
%I arXiv
%R 10.1103/PhysRevC.89.061305
%X In reviewing the data that has accumulated in light nuclei we find that the binding energy plays a critical role in describing the variation in energy of $s$ states relative to other states. The behavior of states with zero angular momentum within a few MeV of threshold is qualitatively different from that of neutron states with any other $\ell$ value or of any proton state. This observation is explored for simple Woods-Saxon potentials and is remarkably successful in describing a wealth of experimental data for nuclei with neutron numbers between 5 and 10. The lingering of neutron $s$ states just below threshold is associated with the increases in radii of the neutron density distributions, the neutron halos, and leads to speculations about possible halos in heavier nuclei.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1311.1556v3