Probing the Neutron Skin of Unstable Nuclei with Heavy-Ion Collisions.

To improve the constraints of symmetry energy at subsaturation density, measuring and accumulating more neutron skin data for neutron-rich unstable nuclei is naturally required. Aiming to probe the neutron skin of unstable nuclei by using low-intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions, we develop a new version of an improved quantum molecular dynamics model, in which the neutron skin of the initial nucleus and the mean-field potential in nucleon propagation are consistently treated. Our calculations show that the three observables, such as the cross-sections of the primary projectile-like residues with A > 100 ( σ A > 100 ), the difference of σ A > 100 between 132 Sn + 124 Sn and 124 Sn + 124 Sn systems ( δ σ A > 100 ), and the neutron-to-proton yield ratio ( R (n / p) ) in the transverse direction, could be used to measure the neutron skin of the unstable nuclei and to constrain the slope of the symmetry energy in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]