The symmetry-energy term in the nuclear equation of state affects many aspects of nuclear astrophysics, nuclear structure, and nuclear reactions. A decade ago, Brown showed that realistic parameterizations of the Skyrme interactions that fit the binding energy differences between 100Sn and 132Sn nuclei yield very different symmetry terms in the nuclear equation of state and predict a large range of neutron-skin radii for 208Pb. Substantial progress has been achieved in recent years in constraining the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy at and around the saturation density with a wide range of experiments. In the talk, I will review current experimental constraints on the symmetry energy from different experiments. I will also discuss recent experimental results using n/p ratios to constrain the nucleon effective masses.

Overview of experimental constraints on the nuclear symmetry energy

246th National Meeting (2013)

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