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The E1 strength distribution in 68Ni has been investigated using Coulomb excitation in inverse kinematics at the R3B-LAND setup and by measuring the invariant mass in the one- and two-neutron decay channels. The giant dipole resonance and a low-lying peak (pygmy dipole resonance) have been observed at 17.1(2) and 9.55(17) MeV, respectively. The measured dipole polarizability is compared to relativistic random phase approximation calculations yielding a neutron-skin thickness of 0.17(2) fm. A method and analysis applicable to neutron-rich nuclei has been developed, allowing for a precise determination of neutron skins in nuclei as a function of neutron excess.

The pygmy dipole resonance has been studied in the proton-magic nucleus 124 Sn with the (α, α ′ γ) coincidence method at Eα = 136 MeV. The comparison with results of photon-scattering experiments reveals a splitting into two components with different structure: one group of states which is excited in (α, α ′ γ) as well as in (γ, γ ′ ) reactions and a group of states at higher energies which is only excited in (γ, γ ′ ) reactions. Calculations with the self-consistent relativistic quasiparticle timeblocking approximation and the quasi-particle phonon model are in qualitative agreement with the experimental results and predict a low-lying isoscalar component dominated by neutron-skin oscillations and a higher-lying more isovector component on the tail of the giant dipole resonance.PACS numbers: 24.30.Cz, Collective phenomena are a common feature of strongly interacting many-body quantum systems directly linked to the relevant effective interactions. Atomic nuclei also show collective behavior. One example is given by the giant resonances, which have been investigated intensively using different experimental methods, see e.g., [1]. The isovector electric giant dipole resonance (IVGDR) has been the first giant resonance to be observed in atomic nuclei. Ever since it has been of particular interest, because collective E1 response is related to symmetry breaking between neutrons and protons. In recent years, the so-called pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) [2][3][4], a concentration of electric dipole strength energetically below the IVGDR, has been studied intensively in various nuclei. Within most modern microscopic nuclear structure models, this new excitation mode is related to the oscillation of a neutron skin against a symmetric proton-neutron core with isospin T = 0; for an overview see the recent review by Paar et al. [5]. Consequently, one expects an increase of the PDR strength approaching isotopes with extreme neutron-to-proton ratios. Experiments on radioactive neutron-rich nuclei seem to support this assumption [6][7][8][9][10][11]. If this picture holds, the strength of the PDR is related to the thickness of the neutron skin and the density dependence of the symmetry energy of nuclear matter [7,12]. The PDR thus permits experimental access to these properties. However, more consistent systematic investigations and especially more constraints on the structure of the PDR are mandatory, such as the experiments presented in this Letter, in order to confirm this picture.Up to now only experiments on stable nuclei allow more detailed investigations of the PDR which yield additional observables in order to understand the underlying structure of this new excitation mode. In nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF) experiments the systematics of the PDR as well as its fragmentation and fine-structure can be studied [3,4,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] up to the particle threshold. The mean excitation energy and the summed transition strength B(E1)↑ (of up to 1% of the isovector energy weighted sum rule) show a smooth variat...

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