The newly discovered proton halo in the first excited ${\mathrm{}(1/2)\mathrm{}}^{+}$ state of ${}^{17}$F [R. Morlock et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 3837 (1997)] is investigated in the nonlinear relativistic mean-field model. It is shown that this model, without introducing any specifically adjusted parameters, can reproduce well not only the ground state properties of ${}^{17}$F but also the proton halo in the excited ${\mathrm{}(1/2)\mathrm{}}^{+}$ state. The possibility of the existence of a proton halo in the neighboring nucleus ${}^{18}$Ne is also discussed.

• Received 15 December 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.57.2752