# Linking structure and dynamics in $(p,pn)$ reactions with Borromean nuclei: the $^{11}$Li$(p,pn){^{10}}$Li case

## TL;DR

This paper investigates the structure of Borromean nuclei, specifically $^{11}$Li, through $(p,pn)$ reactions using a transfer-to-the-continuum framework, revealing sensitivity of the reaction outcomes to the internal configurations of the nucleus.

## Contribution

It introduces a reaction model that accounts for the three-body nature of Borromean nuclei and compares different $^{11}$Li models to experimental data, highlighting the importance of core spin and partial wave content.

## Key findings

- The $^{11}$Li$(p,pn){^{10}}$Li spectrum is sensitive to $p_{1/2}$ and $s_{1/2}$ states.
- Best model includes core spin and 31% $p_{1/2}$-wave content.
- Presence of a low-lying $d_{5/2}$ resonance is discussed.

## Abstract

One-neutron removal $(p,pn)$ reactions induced by two-neutron Borromean nuclei are studied within a Transfer-to-the-Continuum (TC) reaction framework, which incorporates the three-body character of the incident nucleus. The relative energy distribution of the residual unbound two-body subsystem, which is assumed to retain information on the structure of the original three-body projectile, is computed by evaluating the transition amplitude for different neutron-core final states in the continuum. These transition amplitudes depend on the overlaps between the original three-body ground-state wave function and the two-body continuum states populated in the reaction, thus ensuring a consistent description of the incident and final nuclei. By comparing different $^{11}$Li three-body models, it is found that the $^{11}$Li$(p,pn){^{10}}$Li relative energy spectrum is very sensitive to the position of the $p_{1/2}$ and $s_{1/2}$ states in $^{10}$Li and to the partial wave content of these configurations within the $^{11}$Li ground-state wave function. The possible presence of a low-lying $d_{5/2}$ resonance is discussed. The coupling of the single particle configurations with the non-zero spin of the $^{9}$Li core, which produces a spin-spin splitting of the states, is also studied. Among the considered models, the best agreement with the available data is obtained with a $^{11}$Li model that incorporates the actual spin of the core and contains $\sim$31\% of $p_{1/2}$-wave content in the $n$-$^9$Li subsystem, in accord with our previous findings for the $^{11}$Li(p,d)$^{10}$Li transfer reaction, and a near-threshold virtual state.