PX262 - I2 - implications for nature of nuclear forces
- photons and neutrons are bound together in nuclei, despite electrostatic interactions between protons, owing to the strong interaction
- some characteristics:
- independent of charge
- short-ranged
- nuclear matter has a nearly constant density and for stable nuclei, a roughly constant binding energy per nucleon
- this suggests that each nucleon interacts with other nucleons in its immediate vicinity only
- the interactions are saturated (analogy with bonding in molecules)
- the nuclear force favours binding of pairs of protons or neutrons, eg: He