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Additional Subnuclear Structures

Additional Subnuclear Structures

The eukaryotic nucleus is a double membrane-bound organelle that contains nearly all of the cell’s genetic material in the form of chromosomes. It is rightly called the “brain” of the cell as it shoulders the responsibility of responding to various physiological processes, stress, altered metabolic conditions, and other cellular signals.
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Additional Subnuclear Structures

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Nuclear Stability

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Protons and neutrons, collectively called nucleons, are packed together tightly in a nucleus. With a radius of about 10−15 meters, a nucleus is quite small compared to the radius of the entire atom, which is about 10−10 meters. Nuclei are extremely dense compared to bulk matter, averaging 1.8 × 1014 grams per cubic centimeter. If the earth’s density were equal to the average nuclear density, the earth’s radius would be only about 200 meters.
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Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses

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Robust regularity in γ-soft nuclei and its microscopic realization.

K Nomura¹, N Shimizu, D Vretenar

¹Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.

Physical Review Letters

|May 1, 2012

Summary

Nuclear structure research reveals that atomic nuclei exhibiting gamma softness are not rigid-triaxial or gamma-unstable rotors. Microscopic descriptions show these nuclei fall between these two geometric limits.

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Area of Science:

Nuclear Physics
Atomic Structure
Quantum Mechanics

Background:

Understanding the geometrical shapes of atomic nuclei is crucial for nuclear structure theory.
Gamma softness describes the potential energy surface's behavior concerning triaxial deformations.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate gamma softness in atomic nuclei using energy density functionals.
To compare microscopic calculations with geometrical models of nonaxial nuclei.

Main Methods:

Constrained microscopic energy surfaces were mapped for medium-heavy and heavy nuclei.
These surfaces were fitted to a proton-neutron interacting boson model (IBM-2) Hamiltonian.
Low-lying collective spectra and transition rates were calculated.

Main Results:

Calculated spectra and transition rates were analyzed to distinguish between rigid-triaxial and gamma-unstable rotor models.
Results indicate that actual nuclei are not accurately represented by either extreme geometrical picture.
Microscopic descriptions yield results intermediate to the rigid-triaxial and gamma-unstable limits.

Conclusions:

Neither the rigid-triaxial nor the gamma-unstable rotor model fully describes gamma-soft atomic nuclei.
A microscopic approach provides a more accurate representation, falling between these geometrical extremes.
This suggests the interacting boson model (IBM-2) Hamiltonian is optimally suited for describing gamma-soft nuclei.