Radii and binding energies in oxygen isotopes: a puzzle for nuclear forces

Understand

We present a systematic study of both nuclear radii and binding energies in (even) oxygen isotopes from the valley of stability to the neutron drip line.

• Both charge and matter radii are compared to state-of-the-art {\it ab initio} calculations along with binding energy systematics.
• Experimental matter radii are obtained through a complete evaluation of the available elastic proton scattering data of oxygen isotopes.
• We show that, in spite of a good reproduction of binding energies, {\it ab initio} calculations with conventional nuclear interactions derived within chiral effective field theory fail to provide a realistic description of charge and matter radii.