Implication of odd-even staggering in the charge radii of calcium isotopes

Inspired by the evidently observed odd-even staggering and the inverted parabolic-like shape of charge radii along calcium isotopic chain, the ground state properties of calcium isotopes are investigated by constraining the root-mean-square (rms) charge radii under the covariant energy density functionals with effective forces NL3 and PK1. In this work, the pairing correlations are tackled by solving the state-dependent Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer equations. The calculated results suggest that the binding energies obtained by constraint method have been reduced less than 0.1%. But for charge radii, the corresponding results deriving from NL3 and PK1 forces have been increased by about 1.0% and 2.0%, respectively. This means that charge radius is a more sensitive quantity in the calibrated protocol. Meanwhile, it is found that the reproduced charge radii of calcium isotopes is attributed to the rather strong isospin dependence of effective potential. The odd-even oscillation behavior can also be presented in the neutron skin thickness and proton Fermi energy along calcium isotopic chain, but keep opposite trends with respect to the corresponding binding energy and charge radius. As encountered in charge radii, the weakening odd-even oscillation behavior is still emerged from the proton Fermi energies at the neutron numbers N=20 and 28 as well, but not in binding energy and neutron skin thickness.