Neutron radii of Pb204,206,208 determined from 104 MeV α particle scattering

A reanalysis of the recent precision data for the scattering of 104 MeV α particles by Pb204,206,208 reveals a lower minimum in the χ2 fits than that originally obtained by Gils and Rebel. This lower minimum is associated with a more acceptable value for the diffuseness parameter of the imaginary potential. It leads to smaller rms radii for the neutron distributions, which are now found to be equal to the corresponding radii for protons to within ±0.1 fm. NUCLEAR REACTIONS Pb204,206,208 Pb204,206,208(α,α), Eα=104 MeV, microscopic optical model analysis, deduced neutron density rms radii.