Linking nuclear reactions and nuclear structure to study exotic nuclei using the dispersive optical model

The dispersive optical model (DOM) is employed to simultaneously describe elastic nucleon scattering data for ${}^{40}$Ca, ${}^{48}$Ca, and ${}^{208}$Pb as well as observables related to the ground state of these nuclei, with emphasis on the charge density. Such an analysis requires a fully non-local implementation of the DOM including its imaginary component. Illustrations are provided how ingredients thus generated provide critical components for the description of the $(d,p)$ and $(e,e'p)$ reaction. For the nuclei with $N > Z$ the neutron distribution is constrained by available elastic scattering and ground-state data thereby generating a prediction for the neutron skin. We identify ongoing developments including a non-local DOM analysis for ${}^{208}$Pb and point out possible extensions of the method to secure a successful extension of the DOM to rare isotopes.