The kink effect of the nuclear charge radius in the Relativistic Mean-Field Approximation

The kink effect in the nuclear charge radii of lead isotopes is studied using the relativistic mean field approximation with the parameter sets NL3* and NL-Z. It is shown that the small component of the valence neutrons’ Dirac spinors plays an essential role in the formation of the kink, due to its effects on the single-proton central potential in both cases. However, notable differences emerge between the results obtained from these two sets when pairing correlations are not considered.