Sensitivity of the electric dipole polarizability to the neutron skin thickness in [sup 208]Pb

The static dipole polarizability, αD, in 208Pb has been recently measured with highresolution via proton inelastic scattering at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP) [1]. This observable is thought to be intimately connected with the neutron skin thickness, r skin, of the same nucleus and, more fundamentally, it is believed to be associated with the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy. The impact of r skin on αD in 208Pb is investigated and discussed on the basis of a large and representative set of relativistic and non-relativistic nuclear energy density functionals (EDF) [2].