Halo effective field theory analysis of one-neutron knockout reactions of 11Be and 15C

Background: One-nucleon knockout reactions provide insightful information on the single-particle structure of nuclei. When applied to one-neutron halo nuclei, they are purely peripheral, suggesting that they could be properly modeled by describing the projectile within a halo effective field theory (halo-EFT). Purpose: We reanalyze the one-neutron knockout measurements of Be-11 and C-15-both one-neutron halo nuclei-on beryllium at about 60 MeV/nucleon. We consider halo-EFT descriptions of these nuclei which already provide excellent agreement with breakup and transfer data. Method: We include a halo-EFT description of the projectile within an eikonal-based model of the reaction and compare its outcome to existing data. Results: Excellent agreement with experiment is found for both nuclei. The asymptotic normalization coefficients inferred from this comparison confirm predictions from ab initio nuclear-structure calculations and values deduced from transfer data. Conclusions: Halo-EFT can be reliably used to analyze one-neutron knockout reactions measured for halo nuclei and test predictions from state-of-the-art nuclear structure models on these experimental data.

Automated summary

One-nucleon knockout reactions provide valuable insight into the single-particle structure of nuclei. When applied to one-neutron halo nuclei, they can be effectively modeled using halo effective field theory (halo-EFT). In this study, the halo-EFT descriptions of Be-11 and C-15 show excellent agreement with experimental data.