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arXiv · 2511.15385

A relativistic mechanism for the enhanced isovector spin-orbit interaction suggested by parity-violating electron scattering experiments

Abstract

Recent high-precision parity-violating electron scattering (PVES) measurements on $^{208}$Pb (PREX-II) and $^{48}$Ca (CREX) reveal a tension in their simultaneous description within modern nuclear energy density functionals (EDFs). Analyses of these data suggest that an enhanced isovector spin-orbit interaction may help account for both measurements, but its relativistic origin in covariant density functional theory remains to be clarified. We show that, within the framework of a covariant density-dependent point-coupling EDF, an enhanced isovector tensor coupling can naturally induce such a strong isovector spin-orbit interaction. This mechanism provides a promising route toward a simultaneous description of the PREX-II and CREX results while preserving a reasonable description of finite nuclei and nuclear matter. PVES on $^{48}$Ca thus provides a sensitive probe of the covariant isovector tensor interaction.

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Mengying Qiu, Tong-Gang Yue, Zhen Zhang, Lie-Wen Chen. 2025-11-19. A relativistic mechanism for the enhanced isovector spin-orbit interaction suggested by parity-violating electron scattering experiments. https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.15385

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