Critical Impact of Isospin Asymmetry in Elucidating Magicity Across Isotonic Chains of Different Mass Regions Using Relativistic Energy Density Functional

This study provides a comprehensive examination of the surface properties—particularly the symmetry energy and its contributing components—of isotonic chains across various mass ranges, including light, medium, heavy, and superheavy nuclei. We establish a correlation between nuclear symmetry energy and isospin asymmetry in different mass regions along isotonic chains with magic and semi-magic neutron numbers of N = 20, 40, 82, 126, and 172. Our approach integrates the coherent density fluctuation model within the relativistic mean-field (RMF) framework, utilizing both the non-linear NL3 and density-dependent DD-ME2 parameter sets. The methodology employs the Brueckner energy density functional in conjunction with our recently developed relativistic energy density functional (relativistic-EDF). The relativistic parameterization of the EDF at local density facilitates a consistent exploration of isospin-dependent surface properties across the nuclear landscape. In the present work, we successfully reproduce established shell closures and demonstrate that the relativistic approach yields significantly improved predictions for recognized magic numbers, particularly Z = 28 and 50. Additionally, we present compelling evidence for the presence of novel shell and sub-shell closures, specifically at Z = 34, 58, 92, and 118. These findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of nuclear surface properties while serving as a benchmark for future investigations and validations of nuclear models.