Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
E-mail bschaeffer@wanadoo.fr
Abstract
1 Introduction
The Greeks already knew the electrical properties of amber (elektron) and
the magnetic properties of magnetite. Bieler in 1924 wrote “as the angle in-
creases, the ratio of the actual scattering to what would be expected on the
inverse-square law diminishes rapidly. This suggests the existence of an at-
tractive force at short distances from the nucleus”. He made an “attempt to
explain on a magnetic hypothesis this inverse fourth-power term in the law
of force”[1]. The neutron was discovered in 1931 by his colleague, Chadwick.
1
The neutron seeming to be uncharged, the electromagnetic hypothesis for the
nuclear interaction was abandoned. The magnetic moments of the proton and
of the deuteron were discovered in 1932 by Stern and the magnetic moment of
the neutron in 1940 by Bloch. The non-zero magnetic moment of the neutron
indicates that it is not an elementary particle, as it carries no net charge but
still interacts with a magnetic field. Adding algebraically the magnetic mo-
ments of the proton and the neutron, Bloch obtained the magnetic moment of
the deuteron, in a first approximation, without taking contribution from the
orbital movement [2]. Barut suggested that “all forces of elementary particles
are already dynamically unified under electromagnetism”[3]. In spite of the
discovery of the magnetic moment and the electric charges in the neutron,
short range electric and magnetic interactions between nearby nucleons are,
except the Coulomb barrier, still ignored. We shall show, using the laws of elec-
tromagnetism, that the electromagnetic interaction is not so feeble and may
explain quantitatively the nuclear interaction. A free neutron does not have
an electric dipole moment but the dipole may be induced by the electrostatic
induction of a nearby proton in the same way as pieces of paper are attracted
by the electrostatic influence of a rubbed plastic pen. “The positive charge
attracts negative charges to the side closer to itself and leaves positive charges
on the surface of the far side. The attraction by the negative charges exceeds
the repulsion from the positive charges, there is a net attraction”[4]. There is
also a magnetic interaction between the nucleons that can be attractive or re-
pulsive depending on the position and orientation of their magnetic moments.
2
H, 3 H and 3 He are the only nuclei whose magnetic structure is known. A
macroscopic example of the deuteron is the Levitron
R
where the magnetic
repulsion is equilibrated by gravity (instead of electrostatic attraction) and
stabilized by its spin[5].
2
Figure 1. Schematic deuteron structure. - The neutron potential is in 1/r at a short
distance and in 1/r2 at a large distance explaining the neutrality of the neutron at a
large distance from a proton. The proton potential is everywhere in 1/r. Because of
the proximity of a neutron and a proton in a nucleus, there is a dissymmetry causing
an attraction as in any electrostatic induction [4]. The magnetic moments of the
neutron and of the proton are opposite (north poles near contact) and collinear, thus
producing a repulsive potential in 1/r3 equilibrating the electrostatic attraction.
their own axis and have relative fixed positions and fixed orientations of their
magnetic moments.
The sum of the electrostatic energy of particles i and j with electric charges ei
and ej , and the magnetostatic energy of magnetic dipoles µi and µj is [6,7,8] :
" #
XX ei ej X X µ0 3 (~µi • ~rij ) (~µj • ~rij )
Uem = + 3
~i • µ
µ ~j − 2
(1)
i i6=j 4π0 rij i i6=j 4πrij rij
where ~rij is the internucleon vector between the centers of the nucleons or,
if necessary, the intercharge vector. This formula shows that the Coulomb
potential is attractive or repulsive depending on the sign of the product of the
electric charges. The magnetic potential is attractive or repulsive depending
on the orientation and position of the magnetic moments of the nucleons.
If the neutron has no charge, its electrostatic energy is zero. The proton
containing one elementary charge + e, its electrostatic energy is, for a radius
3
r = 1 fm :
e2
U (r) = = 1.44 M eV (2)
4π0 r
The proton should be heavier than the neutron by nearly the same quantity.
The sign is wrong : the proton is heavier than the neutron [4] by approxima-
tely the same quantity 1.29 M eV . A simple explanation is that the neutron
contains two opposite elementary electric charges + e and − e. Its mass ex-
ceeds that of the proton by the electrostatic energy of the proton, as observed.
We may therefore assume that the neutron contains two electric charges + e
and − e. Moreover, its positive charge will be neglected in a first approxima-
tion, as detailed below.
e2
- Fine structure constant α = 20 hc
= 1/137.
h̄
- Proton Compton radius RP = mp c
= 0.21 f m.
eh̄
- Nuclear magneton µN = 2mp
= 12 ecRP .
- The magnetic moments of the neutron and the proton are µn and µp . Their
corresponding Landé factors are gn = −3.826 and gp = 5.585. We have the
relations µi = g2i µN = gi 4m
eh̄
p
= gi RP ec4 where i means n or p.
µ0 µi µj gi gj
= αmp c2 RP3 (4)
4π 16
Using the preceding equations simplified in the approximations of neglecting
the positive electric charge of the neutron and of assuming that its positive
charge coincides with the neutron center, the general potential formula (1)
becomes !3
X X ei ej RP |g g
i j | R P
Uem = αmp c2
2r
+ Cij (5)
i i6=j e ij 16 rij
4
Deuteron electromagnetic nuclear potential
2
Potential energy (MeV)
1
Magnetic repulsion
Equilibrium point
0
0 1 2 3 4
-1 Electrostatic attraction
-1.6 MeV
-2
0.6 fm
Distance rnp between the centers of the nucleons (fm)
~ j ) − 3 cos (~µi , ~rij ) cos (~µj , ~rij ) and ~rij is the internucleon
where Cij = cos (~µi , µ
vector. Cij is positive for magnetic repulsion and negative for magnetic attrac-
tion.
5
3 Potentials and binding energies of the hydrogen isotopes
!3
2H RP |gn gp | RP
Uem (rnp ) = αmp c2 − + (6)
rnp 8 rnp
6
The neutron-proton interaction potential energy is, numerically :
!2
2H 1, 44 0.34
Uem (rnp ) = − 1− M eV (7)
rnp rnp
where rnp is in fm. It may be noticed that, when rnp is large, formula (7) be-
comes formula (2). The calculated electromagnetic potential between a neu-
tron and a proton in the deuteron is shown on figure 2.
The binding energy is the potential at equilibrium. The derivative of the po-
tential energy relative to the radius rnp has to be a zero force at equilibrium :
dU 2H 3|gn gp | RP3
" #
RP
F = − em = − αmp c2 − 2 + 4
=0 (8)
drnp rnp 8 rnp
The distance between the centers of the neutron and the proton at equilibrium
is s
3|gn gp |
rnp = RP = 0.6f m (9)
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three times smaller than what is usually assumed although compatible with
the positions of the Paris potential minimums [10].
s
2H 938 8 2
Bem /A =− × = −0.8 M eV (11)
2 × 137 3 × 3, 8 × 5, 6 3
7
Figure 3. Magnetic moments of A=3 isotopes. − According to formula (5).the
magnetic moments have to be repulsive and thus opposite in order to equilibrate
the electrostatic attraction. The magnetic moment of 3 H being nearly equal the
proton magnetic moment, the neutron magnetic moments are horizontal in a first
approximation and therefore their scalar product is negligible. The projection of the
neutron magnetic moment the np line is also zero. It is the same for 3 He, the np
magnetic interactions are also zero.
3.3 Triton
The triton 3 H having only one proton, the pp interaction is inexistent. Accor-
ding to the general formula (5), the electromagnetic interaction potential of
the two np bonds in 3 H is
!3
np RP |gn gp | RP
Uem (rnp ) = αmp c2 × 2 − + Cnp (12)
rnp 16 rnp
~ p ) − 3 cos (~µn , ~rnp ) cos (~µp , ~rnp ) = 0, the magnetic mo-
where Cnp = cos (~µn , µ
ment of the proton being perpendicular to those of the neutrons and also
to the vector radius ~rnp . The magnetic interaction np being thus null, there
remains only the neutron-proton attractive electrostatic potential :
np 2RP
Uem (rnp ) = −αmp c2 (13)
rnp
g 2 RP3
" #
RP
nn
Uem (rnn ) = αmp c 2
+ n ×2 (14)
(2rnp ) 16 (2rnp )3
8
nn
Adding the neutron-neutron and neutron-proton potentials, Uem (rnn ) and
np 3
Uem (rnp ), the interacting electromagnetic potential of the H nucleus be-
comes :
!3
RP3
2
3RP gn
3H
Uem (rnp ) = αmp c2 − + (15)
2rnp 8 rnp
gn
rnp = RP √ = 0.14f m (16)
4 2
√
3H 4 2
Bem (rnp ) = − αmp c2 = −10 M eV (17)
gn
The binding energy per nucleon is −3.3 M eV , 12 % stronger than the expe-
3H
rimental value Bem /A = −2.8 M eV .
The binding energies of the heavier hydrogen isotopes (N > 2) are obtained
simply by dividing the total binding energy of the isotope having the maximum
binding energy, e.g. 3 H by its atomic mass. Figure 4 shows the variation of the
calculated and measured binding energies of the hydrogen isotopes for N = 0
to 6. The results don’t differ much from those obtained by assuming a kind of
halo structure [15]. It may be explained by a compensation of the attractive
potential between neutrons and protons and the repulsive potential between
the neutrons.
4.1 Helion
The helion nucleus differs from the triton nucleus by changing the neutrons
into protons and vice-versa, the proton into a neutron. Therefore the same
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formula as for the helion may be used but where n and p are switched round :
√
3He 4 2
Bem (rnp ) = − αmp c2 = −6.9 M eV (18)
gp
The binding energy per nucleon is thus −2.3 M eV , slightly weaker than the
experimental value, −2.6 M eV and also than the triton, which is explained
by the larger magnetic moment of the proton and thus a stronger magnetic
repulsion.
4.2 α particle
The binding energy per nucleon of the nuclei is equal to αmp c2 multiplied by
a numerical coefficient varying between 0.15 and 1.5. This coefficient is, expe-
rimentally 1.04 for 4 He. Unfortunately, it was not yet possible to obtain it by
calculation as for the other H and He isotopes. Several structures, essentially
tetrahedron and square with magnetic orientations giving a zero resultant
magnetic moment, were tried but none gave the correct result. Other possible
structures should be investigated but more information about the 4 He struc-
ture is necessary, particularly about the orientation of the magnetic moments
4He
in the nucleus. Using the formula Bem /A = −αmp c2 , we obtain a binding
energy of 4 He 4 % lower than the experimental value 7.07M eV . It is therefore
not unreasonable to use provisionally the formula αmc2 for the binding energy
of the α particle although it was not rigorously calculated.
The binding energies of the heavier helium isotopes (N > 2) is obtained simi-
larly to those of the hydrogen isotopes, simply by dividing the total binding
energy of the isotope having the maximum binding energy, e.g. 4 He by its
atomic mass. The result is shown on figure 4.
10
Hydrogen & helium isotopes calculated and measured
7 4He
!mc2 = 6.8 MeV
6
Binding energy per nucleon B/A (MeV)
5He
5 6He
4 7He
8He
9He
3 10He
3H
3He
4H 5H
1 2H
6H
7H
0 10H
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Neutron number N
Figure 4. Calculated and experimental binding energies of the hydrogen and helium
isotopes. − The isotopic parabolas shown on the figure have been rarely considered.
Nuclides with one and two neutrons have been calculated individually except for
4 He where B/A is assumed to be αm c2 . Nuclides with more than two neutrons have
p
been calculated from the maximum binding energy by assuming a zero separation
energy for the extra neutrons. Therefore B is independent of the neutron number
N and B/A decreases in proportion. The experimental and the theoretical isotopic
parabolas coincide approximately. The binding energies, calculated from nuclear
masses [17,18], are taken positive on the graph.
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Comparing with formula (10) giving the separation energy of a neutron from a
proton shows that these two formulas look similar but they differ by two points.
First, the fine structure constant α is to the second power for the hydrogen
atom and to the first power for the deuteron. Second, the electron mass in the
hydrogen atom is replaced by a nucleon mass in the heavy hydrogen nucleus.
Third, the numerical coefficient is 0.23 for the heavy hydrogen nucleus instead
of 0.5 for the hydrogen atom. With a coefficient of 1.04, we obtain almost
exactly the α particle binding energy per nucleon :
αmp c2 = 7 M eV (20)
Comparing formulas (19) and (20), the nuclear energy is around mmepα = 1, 836×
137 = 250, 000 times more concentrated than the chemical energy.
6 Conclusions
- The hypothesis that the proton contains one charge + e and the neutron
two, + e and − e, explaining its larger weight, is used to obtain the binding
energies. The neutron plus charge is neglected in a first approximation.
- The repulsion between the magnetic moments of the nucleons explains the
repulsive core.
- The calculated hydrogen and helium isotopes binding energies agree satis-
factorily with their experimental isotopic parabolas (figure 4).
12
mp
- The ratio between nuclear and chemical energies is discovered to be me α
.
Références
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[16] P. Roy Chowdhury, C. Samanta, D.N. Basu, Modern Physics Letters A, Volume
20 (2005) 1605-1618.
[17] G. Audi et al., Nuclear Physics A 729 (2003) 337-676.
[18] D. Cortina-Gil1, W. Mittig, Europhysics News 41 (2010) 23-26.
[19] D. R. Lide, CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 85th Ed, CRC Press,
Boca Raton, 2004.
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