Pygmy Dipole Strength in Exotic Nuclei and the Equation of State

A concentration of dipole strength at energies below the giant dipole resonance was observed in neutron-rich nuclei around 132Sn in an experiment using the FRS-LAND setup. This so-called “pygmy” dipole strength can be related to the parameters of the symmetry energy and to the neutron skin thickness on the grounds of a relativistic quasiparticle random-phase approximation. Using this ansatz and the experimental findings for 130Sn and 132Sn, we derive a value of the symmetry energy pressure of p-bar0 = 2.2±0.5 MeV/fm3. Neutron skin thicknesses of Rn−Rp = 0.23±0.03 fm and 0.24±0.03 fm for 130Sn and 132Sn, respectively, have been determined. Preliminary results on 68Ni from a similar experiment using an improved setup indicate an enhanced cross section at low energies, while the results for 58Ni are in accordance with results from photoabsorption measurements.