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Article
Report number	arXiv:2012.13802
Title	Laser spectroscopy of neutron-rich $^{207,208}$Hg isotopes: Illuminating the kink and odd-even staggering in charge radii across the $N=126$ shell closure
Author(s)	Day Goodacre, T. (Manchester U. ; CERN ; TRIUMF) ; Afanasjev, A.V. (Mississippi State U.) ; Barzakh, A.E. (St. Petersburg, INP) ; Marsh, B.A. (CERN) ; Sels, S. (CERN ; Leuven U.) ; Ring, P. (Munich, Tech. U.) ; Nakada, H. (Chiba U.) ; Andreyev, A.N. (York U., England ; JAERI, Tokai) ; Van Duppen, P. (Leuven U.) ; Althubiti, N.A. (Manchester U. ; Al Jouf U.) ; Andel, B. (Leuven U. ; Comenius U.) ; Atanasov, D. (Heidelberg, Max Planck Inst.) ; Billowes, J. (Manchester U.) ; Blaum, K. (Heidelberg, Max Planck Inst.) ; Cocolios, T.E. (Manchester U. ; Leuven U.) ; Cubiss, J.G. (York U., England) ; Farooq-Smith, G.J. (Manchester U. ; Leuven U.) ; Fedorov, D.V. (St. Petersburg, INP) ; Fedosseev, V.N. (CERN) ; Flanagan, K.T. (Manchester U. ; U. Manchester (main)) ; Gaffney, L.P. (Leuven U. ; West Scotland U.) ; Ghys, L. (Leuven U. ; SCK-CEN, Mol) ; Huyse, M. (Leuven U.) ; Kreim, S. (Heidelberg, Max Planck Inst. ; CERN) ; Lunney, D. (CSNSM, Orsay) ; Lynch, K.M. (Manchester U. ; CERN) ; Manea, V. (Heidelberg, Max Planck Inst.) ; Martinez Palenzuela, Y. (Leuven U. ; CERN) ; Molkanov, P.L. (St. Petersburg, INP) ; Rosenbusch, M. (Greifswald U.) ; Rossel, R.E. (CERN ; Mainz U., Inst. Phys.) ; Rothe, S. (CERN) ; Schweikhard, L. (Greifswald U.) ; Seliverstov, M.D. (St. Petersburg, INP) ; Spagnoletti, P. (West Scotland U.) ; Van Beveren, C. (Leuven U.) ; Veinhard, M. (CERN) ; Verstraelen, E. (Leuven U.) ; Welker, A. (CERN ; Dresden, Tech. U.) ; Wendt, K. (Mainz U., Inst. Phys.) ; Wienholtz, F. (CERN ; Greifswald U.) ; Wolf, R.N. (Heidelberg, Max Planck Inst.) ; Zadvornaya, A. (Leuven U.) ; Zuber, K. (Dresden, Tech. U.)
Publication	2021-01-23
Imprint	2020-12-26
Number of pages	7
Note	7 pages, 5 figures, Physical Review C, in press
In:	Phys. Rev. Lett. 126 (2021) 032502
DOI	10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.032502
Subject category	nucl-th ; Nuclear Physics - Theory ; nucl-ex ; Nuclear Physics - Experiment
Abstract	The mean-square charge radii of $^{207,208}$Hg ($Z=80, N=127,128$) have been studied for the first time and those of $^{202,203,206}$Hg ($N=122,123,126$) remeasured by the application of in-source resonance-ionization laser spectroscopy at ISOLDE (CERN). The characteristic \textit{kink} in the charge radii at the $N=126$ neutron shell closure has been revealed, providing the first information on its behavior below the $Z=82$ proton shell closure. A theoretical analysis has been performed within relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov and non-relativistic Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approaches, considering both the new mercury results and existing lead data. Contrary to previous interpretations, it is demonstrated that both the kink at $N=126$ and the odd-even staggering (OES) in its vicinity can be described predominately at the mean-field level, and that pairing does not need to play a crucial role in their origin. A new OES mechanism is suggested, related to the staggering in the occupation of the different neutron orbitals in odd- and even-$A$ nuclei, facilitated by particle-vibration coupling for odd-$A$ nuclei.
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