Chapter 2 Nuclear Structure and Models

1)No Complete theory exists for the Nuclear Structure 2) The nuclear models successfully explains certain properties 3) Nuclear models make predictions about the other properties that could be checked experimentally 4) We will discuss two models Liquid drop model and Shell model in this chapter

Liquid Drop Model

The liquid drop model is a model in nuclear physics which treats the nucleus as a drop of incompressible nuclear fluid, first proposed by George Gamow and developed by Niels Bohr and John Archibald Wheeler. The fluid is made of nucleons (protons and neutrons), which are held together by the strong nuclear force. Forces in a liquid and that in a nucleus are attractive over a short range and becomes repulsive at very short distance (less than 0.5 fm for nucleons) A constant balance between the attractive and repulsive forces gives liquids and nuclei a constant density

 This is a crude model that does not explain all the properties of nuclei, but does explain the spherical shape of most nuclei. It also helps to predict the binding energy of the nucleus. It ignores the individual nucleons and try to explain the properties of a nucleus in terms of the gross properties of the nuclear fluid For example it tries to explain the spherical shape of the nucleus in terms of the surface energy and surface tension

 Mathematical analysis of the theory delivers an equation which attempts to predict the binding energy of a nucleus in terms of the numbers of protons and neutrons it contains. This equation has five terms on its right hand side. These correspond to the cohesive binding of all the nucleons by the strong nuclear force (VOLUME ENERGY), the electrostatic mutual repulsion of the protons (COULOMB ENERGY), a SURFACE ENERGY term, an ASYMMETRY term (derivable from the protons and neutrons occupying independent quantum momentum states) and a PAIRING term (partly derivable from the protons and neutrons occupying independent quantum spin states).

Application of Liquid drop model to understand the binding energy dependence on A and Z

Volume Energy
The binding energy is associated with the bonds that each nucleon forms with its nearest neighbors The binding energy is proportional to the number of bonds The total number of bonds is proportional to the number of nucleons (A) Therefore the contribution of the volume energy is avA av is a positive constant to be adjusted by comparison with the experimental data

Surface Energy
The volume energy fails to account for the fewer neighbors and bonds on the surface than inside the nuclear volume Therefore the volume energy must be subtracted by the number of nucleons on the surface The number of nucleons on the surface is proportional to the surface area 4R2 Since R is proportional to A1/3, the surface energy contribution would be asA2/3 Here as is a positive constant. The negative sign indicates that this term reduces the binding energy.

Coulomb Energy Electrostatic Potential Energy

If there are Z protons, the total positive charge in the nucleus is Q = Ze If this charge is uniformly distributed over the nuclear volume, its potential energy is given by (1/40)(3/5)(Z2e2/R) Substituting R A1/3 and other constants we get the Coulomb energy contribution - ac Z2/A1/3

Asymmetry Energy contribution

The protons and neutrons have a distinct set of energy states The energy states of protons and neutrons are nearly the same, except a minor difference in energy by the coulomb forces among the protons In a nucleus with Z protons and A-Z neutrons, the protons will occupy the lowest Z proton states and A-Z neutrons will occupy the lowest A-Z neutron states If a nucleus has the equal number of protons and neutrons, then both the proton and neutron states will be filled up to the same energy level

 If the nucleus has an unequal number of protons and neutrons, then the proton states will be filled up to a higher energy level. This increases the energy of the nucleus Thus the asymmetry in the number of neutrons and protons increases the energy of the nucleus Since a neutron excess will yield the same effect as a proton excess, the energy increase must be an even function of the neutron proton difference, therefore it must be a power series in even powers of (N-Z) or (A 2Z) We will retain only the quadratic power so that the energy increase will be proportional to (A2Z)2

 We must also make an extra modification for the dependence on A The energy increase arising from a given proton or neutron excess is small if A is large This is because for large A the relevant energy levels have large quantum numbers and therefore small energy intervals Therefore the magnitude of the energy increase is inveresly proportional to A Combined effect would be (-aa/4)(A-2Z)2/A

Pairing Energy
This energy comes from the tendency for the like nucleons to form spin-zero pairs in the same spatial state The pairing contribution is positive if N and Z are both even and the nucleons are all coupled to form spin zero pairs It is negative if both N and Z are odd It is zero if either N or Z is odd (A odd) A typical value of this energy is 12/A1/2 MeV

Weizsacker Semi Empirical Mass Formula

Combining all the energy contributions gives the SEMF for binding energy
B = [avA asA2/3 - ac Z2/A1/3 (-aa/4)(A-2Z)2/A +(-) ] The values of the constants are given as av = 15.75 Mev, as = 17.8 MeV, ac = 0.711MeV, aa = 23.7 MeV, = 11.18 MeV]

Example
Use the Weizsaecker formula to determine the binding energy of 26Fe56 and compare the results with the experimental value. Using the W. Formula BE = 15.7x56 17.8 x (56)2/3 -0.711 (26)2 (56)-1/3 23.7 (56-52)2/56+11.18(56)-1/2 = 487.75 MeV The experimental value is BE = (26 x 1.007825 + 30 x1.008665 55.939395) x931.5 = 488.11 MeV The difference is 0.1% Practice Problems 2.1,2.2 and 2.4 pages 63-64

The Nuclear Shell Model

Although the SEMF is generally very good to find the BE, however, whenever N or Z is close to 20,28,50,82 or for N=126, there is a significant departure from the experimental value The numbers 8, 20,28,50,82 and 126 are called magic numbers Near these numbers the binding energy of the last nucleon is unusually large. Also the elements with one of the magic numbers have very many stable isotopes

 The strong binding of nucleons near magic numbers reminds of the great stability of inertgas atoms. Such as 2,10,18,36,54,86 atomic numbers for the inert gases The closed shell structure is stable because a large energy is required to break the electron away from a filled shell In a similar fashion, having the large binding for the nucleons with magic numbers suggests that there may be shell structure in nuclei In atoms the shell structure is due to Paulis exclusion principle, nucleons also obey this principle

Properties of Shell Model

The Shell Model accounts for many features of the nuclear energy levels. According to this model, the motion of each nucleon is governed by the average attractive force of all the other nucleons. The resulting orbits form "shells," just as the orbits of electrons in atoms do. As nucleons are added to the nucleus, they drop into the lowestenergy shells permitted by the Pauli Principle which requires that each nucleon have a unique set of quantum numbers to describe its motion

 When a shell is full (that is, when the nucleons have used up all of the possible sets of quantum number assignments), a nucleus of unusual stability forms. This concept is similar to that found in an atom where a filled set of electron quantum numbers results in an atom with unusual stabilityan inert gas. When all the protons or neutrons in a nucleus are in filled shells, the number of protons or neutrons is called a "magic number." Some of the magic numbers are 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, and 126. For example, 116Sn has a magic number of protons (50) and 54Fe has a magic number of neutrons (28). Some nuclei, for example 40Ca and 208Pb, have magic numbers of both protons and neutrons; these nuclei have exceptional stability and are called "doubly magic." Magic numbers are indicated on the chart of the nuclides.

 The shell model of the nucleus presumes that a given nucleon moves in an effective attractive potential formed by all the other nucleons. If that is true, then the potential is probably roughly proportional to the nuclear density and therefore could be expressed in the form The parameters in this model of the potential have been approximately evaluated:

Note that the radius above is larger than that given by the nuclear radius formula since it is related to the nuclear force which extends beyond the radius.

1st Shell: 2 states (n = 0, j = 1/2). 2nd Shell: 6 states (n = 1, j = 1/2 or 3/2). 3rd shell: 12 states (n = 2, j = 1/2, 3/2 or 5/2). 4th shell: 8 states (n = 3, j = 7/2). 5th shell: 22 states (n = 3, j = 1/2, 3/2 or 5/2; n = 4, j = 9/2). 6th shell: 32 states (n = 4, j = 1/2, 3/2, 5/2 or 7/2; n = 5, j = 11/2). 7th shell: 44 states (n = 5, j = 1/2, 3/2, 5/2, 7/2 or 9/2; n = 6, j = 13/2). 8th shell: 58 states (n = 6, j = 1/2, 3/2, 5/2, 7/2, 9/2 or 11/2; n = 7, j = 15/2). and so on. The magic numbers are then 2 8 = 2+6 20 = 2+6+12 28 = 2+6+12+8 50 = 2+6+12+8+22 82 = 2+6+12+8+22+32 126 = 2+6+12+8+22+32+44 184 = 2+6+12+8+22+32+44+58

Example of Shell model

 An example of transitions between a nucleuss energy levels is shown in the previous slide. The ground states of 12B (5 protons, 7 neutrons) and 12N (7 protons, 5 neutrons) are related to each other and to the 15.1 MeV state in 12C. Each has a nucleon in the third energy level, each has the quantum number 1+, 1, and each decays to the ground state of carbon. The boron and nitrogen beta decay emit an e- and e+ respectively. The 15.1 MeV state in carbon decays by gamma emission. The shell model calculations of these transition probabilities agree quite well with the measured rates even though different decay mechanisms are at work in each case. Nuclear theorists keep refining the shell model to understand the details of nuclear structure and to make that knowledge available for applications in nuclear technology.