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    Neutron skins probed in proton knockout from neutron-rich nuclei

    C. A. Bertulani*

    R. V. Lobato†

    • *Contact author: carlos.bertulani@etamu.edu
    • †Contact author: lobato@cbpf.br

    Phys. Rev. C 113, 024617 – Published 24 February, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/sz51-yf8l

    Abstract

    Proton-induced quasifree knockout reactions provide a powerful probe of nuclear single-particle structure and reaction dynamics in both stable and neutron-rich nuclei. In this work we develop a unified theoretical framework for the calculation of inclusive (p,2p) and sequential (p,3p) reaction cross sections and fragment momentum distributions at intermediate and relativistic energies. The approach is based on a probabilistic extension of Glauber multiple-scattering theory combined with microscopic nuclear densities obtained from Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations using Skyrme energy-density functionals. We focus in particular on the sensitivity of total cross sections and longitudinal momentum dispersions to neutron-skin thickness along isotopic chains. Our results indicate that both (p,2p) and (p,3p) reactions exhibit a systematic decrease of cross section and momentum width with increasing neutron excess, reflecting enhanced attenuation and surface bias induced by neutron skins. The effect is significantly stronger for two-proton removal, suggesting that (p,3p) reactions may offer enhanced sensitivity to isovector nuclear structure. These findings establish proton-induced knockout reactions as complementary hadronic probes of neutron skins and the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy.

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