C. A. Bertulani, R. V. Lobato

Physical Review C

24/02/2026

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,2⁢𝑝) and sequential (𝑝,3⁢𝑝) 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,2⁢𝑝) and (𝑝,3⁢𝑝) 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,3⁢𝑝) 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.

10.1103/sz51-yf8l