Liquid-Drop Model and Quantum Resistance Against Noncompact Nuclear Geometries
arXiv:nucl-th/0012054 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.65.044319
Abstract
The importance of quantum effects for exotic nuclear shapes is demonstrated. Based on the example of a sheet of nuclear matter of infinite lateral dimensions but finite thickness, it is shown that the quantization of states in momentum space, resulting from the confinement of the nucleonic motion in the conjugate geometrical space, generates a strong resistance against such a confinement and generates restoring forces driving the system towards compact geometries. In the liquid-drop model, these quantum effects are implicitly included in the surface energy term, via a choice of interaction parameters, an approximation that has been found valid for compact shapes, but has not yet been scrutinized for exotic shapes.
9 pages with 3 figures