This work establishes a new universal linear correlation between the neutron skin thickness ($\mathrm{\Delta }{R}_{np}$) of heavy isotopic chains and that of the lead isotopic chain, characterized by extraordinary precision ($R^2>0.99$). Through self-consistent Skyrme Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations, we compute comprehensive ground-state observables, validating our approach against established theoretical models and experimental data. Our central discovery is the robust correlation $\mathrm{\Delta }{R}_{np}(Z,N)=m(Z)\mathrm{\Delta }{R}_{np}(\mathrm{Pb},N)+b(Z)$, which maintains remarkable fidelity across all neutron numbers. This universal correlation, rigorously confirmed across independent theoretical frameworks, establishes the Pb chain as a fundamental baseline for nuclear isovector properties. Calibrated using the PREX-II measurement, this relation tightly constrains the symmetry energy slope parameter $L$. This constraint, in turn, predicts neutron star global properties and tidal deformabilities that show striking consistency with multimessenger astrophysical constraints from the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer and LIGO/Virgo. Furthermore, the predicted enhancement of $\mathrm{\Delta }{R}_{np}$ in neutron-rich actinides increases their fission barriers, directly impacting $r$-process nucleosynthesis by suppressing fission recycling and offering a resolution to the long-standing underprediction of the heaviest abundance peak. Collectively, these results provide the essential nuclear physics inputs required to interpret gravitational-wave signals, neutron star observations, and the origin of the heaviest elements, establishing a unified quantitative paradigm from finite nuclei to neutron stars.

Close

PrevNext

View figure in article

• Formation & evolution of stars & galaxies
• Nuclear astrophysics
• Nuclear matter in neutron stars
• Nuclear structure & decays