Spin-orbit splitting in low-j neutron orbits and proton densities in the nuclear interior

On the basis of relativistic mean field calculations, we predict that the spin-orbit splitting of $p_{3/2}$ and $p_{1/2}$ neutron orbits depends sensitively on the magnitude of the proton density near the center of the nucleus, and in particular on the occupation of $s_{1/2}$ proton orbits. We focus on two exotic nuclei, $^{46}$Ar and $^{206}$Hg, in which the presence of a pair of $s_{1/2}$ proton holes is predicted to cause the splitting between the $p_{3/2}$ and $p_{1/2}$ neutron orbits near the Fermi surface to be much smaller than in the nearby doubly-magic nuclei $^{48}$Ca and $^{208}$Pb. We note that these two exotic nuclei depart from the long-standing paradigm of a central potential proportional to the ground state baryon density and a spin-orbit potential proportional to the derivative of the central potential.