Lecture 2

Nuclear models:
The liquid drop model
Fermi-Gas Model

WS2012/13: ‚Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics‘, Part I

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 Nuclear models

Nuclear models

Models with strong interaction between Models of non-interacting

the nucleons nucleons

Liquid drop model
Fermi gas model

α-particle model
Optical model

Shell model
…

…

Nucleons interact with the nearest Nucleons move freely inside the nucleus:
neighbors and practically don‘t move: mean free path λ ~ RA nuclear radius
mean free path λ << RA nuclear radius

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I. The liquid drop model

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 The 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.

This is a crude model that does not explain all the properties of the nucleus, but (!)
•does explain the spherical shape of most nuclei.
•It also helps to predict the binding energy of the nucleus.

George Gamow Niels Henrik David Bohr John Archibald Wheeler

(1930-1968) (1885-1962) (1911-2008) 4
 The liquid drop model
The parametrisation of nuclear masses as a function of A and Z, which is known as the
Weizsäcker formula or the semi-empirical mass formula, was first introduced in 1935 by
German physicist Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker:

M ( A , Z ) = Zm p + Nm n − E B
EB is the binding energy of the nucleus :

Volum term Surface term

Coulomb term Assymetry term Pairing
term

Empirical parameters:

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 Binding energy of the nucleus
Volume energy (dominant term): E V = aV A
A - mass number
Coefficient a V ≈ 16 MeV

•The basis for this term is the strong nuclear force.

•The strong force affects both protons and neutrons  this term
is independent of Z.
•Because the number of pairs that can be taken from A particles
is A(A-1)/2, one might expect a term proportional to A2 .
However, the strong force has a very limited range, and a given
nucleon may only interact strongly with its nearest neighbors and
next nearest neighbors. Therefore, the number of pairs of
particles that actually interact is roughly proportional to A.

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 Binding energy of the nucleus

Surface energy: E S = −aS A2/3

Coefficient a S ≈ 20 MeV

•This term, also based on the strong force,

is a correction to the volume term.

•A nucleon at the surface of a nucleus interacts with less

number of nucleons than one in the interior of the nucleus, so
its binding energy is less. This can also be thought of as a
surface tension term, and indeed a similar mechanism creates
surface tension in liquids.

•The surface energy term is therefore negative and is

proportional to the surface area :
if the volume of the nucleus is proportional to A (V=4/3πR3),
then the radius should be proportional to A1 / 3 (R~A1 / 3) and
the surface area to A2 / 3 (S= π R2=πΑ2 / 3).
=πΑ
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 Binding energy of the nucleus
Z2
Coulomb (or electric) energy: E C = − aC
A1/ 3

Coefficient a C ≈ 0 . 75 MeV p

•The basis for this term is the electrostatic repulsion between n p

protons.
• The electric repulsion between each pair of protons in a nucleus
contributes toward decreasing its binding energy:
from QED - interaction energy for the charges q1, q2 inside the ball
q1q 2
E int ~
R
Here R - empirical nuclear radius: R~A1 / 3

Thus, Z2
EC ~ 1/ 3
A

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 Binding energy of the nucleus
Asymmetry energy (also called Pauli Energy):

E asym = − a Sym
( N − Z )2
A
Coefficient a sym ≈ 21 MeV

 An energy associated with the Pauli exclusion principle: two fermions

can not occupy exactly the same quantum state . At a given energy level,
there is only a finite number of quantum states available for particles.
 Thus, as more nucleons are added to the nuclei, these particles must
occupy higher energy levels, increasing the total energy of the nucleus (and
decreasing the binding energy).
 Protons and neutrons, being distinct types of particles, occupy different
quantum states.
One can think of two different ‚pools‘ of states, one for protons and one for
neutrons. For example, if there are significantly more neutrons than
protons in a nucleus, some of the neutrons will be higher in energy than the
available states in the proton pool.
 The imbalance between the number of protons and neutrons causes the
energy to be higher than it needs to be, for a given number of nucleons.
This is the basis for the asymmetry term.

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 Binding energy of the nucleus
Pairing energy: δ
E pair = −
A1/ 3

•An energy which is a correction term that arises from the effect of
spin-coupling.
•Due to the Pauli exclusion principle the nucleus would have a lower
energy if the number of protons with spin up will be equal to the
number of protons with spin down. This is also true for neutrons.
•Only if both Z and N are even, both protons and neutrons can have
equal numbers of spin up and spin down particles.
•An even number of particles is more stable (δ<
δ<0
δ< for even-even
δ>0).
nuclei) than an odd number (δ

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 The liquid drop model
 The different contributions to the
binding energy per nucleon versus mass
number A:
The horizontal line at ≈ 16 MeV
represents the contribution of the
volume energy.
This is reduced by the surface energy,
the asymmetry energy and the
Coulomb energy to the effective
binding energy of ≈ 8 MeV(lower line).
The contributions of the asymmetry
and Coulomb terms increase rapidly
with A, while the contribution of the
surface term decreases.

The Weizsäcker formula (= > liquid drop model) is based on some properties known from liquid drops:
constant density, short-range forces, saturation, deformability and surface tension. An essential difference,
however, is found in the mean free path of the particles: for molecules in liquid drops, this is far smaller
than the size of the drop; but for nucleons in the nucleus, it is λ ~ RA .

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 Binding energy of the nucleus
A graphical representation of the semi-empirical binding energy formula:
(as a contour plot):
the binding energy per nucleon in MeV (highest numbers in dark red, in excess of
8.5 MeV per nucleon) is plotted for various nuclides as a function of Z,
the atomic number (on the Y-axis), vs. N, the atomic mass number (on the X-axis).
The highest numbers are seen for Z = 26 (iron).

Z
binding energy per nucleon in MeV

N
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II. Fermi-Gas Model

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 The basic concept of the Fermi-gas model
The theoretical concept of a Fermi-gas may be applied for systems of weakly
interacting fermions, i.e. particles obeying Fermi-Dirac statistics leading to the Pauli
exclusion principle 
• Simple picture of the nucleus:
— Protons and neutrons are considered as moving freely within the nuclear volume.
The binding potential is generated by all nucleons
— In a first approximation, these nuclear potential wells are considered as
rectangular: it is constant inside the nucleus and stops sharply at its end
— Neutrons and protons are distinguishable fermions and are
therefore situated in two separate potential wells
— Each energy state can be ocupied by two
nucleons with different spin projections
— All available energy states are filled by
the pairs of nucleons  no free states , no
transitions between the states
— The energy of the highest occupied state
is the Fermi energy EF
— The difference B‘ between the top of the well and the Fermi level is constant for
most nuclei and is just the average binding energy per nucleon B‘/A = 7–8 MeV.
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 Number of nucleon states
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle:
The volume of one particle in phase space: 2π h
pF
The number of nucleon states in a volume V: pmax

~= ∫∫d rd p
3 3 V ⋅ 4π ∫
0
p 2 dp
(1)
(V = ∫ d r )
3 n =
(2πh )3 (2πh )3
At temperature T = 0, i.e. for the nucleus in its ground state, the lowest states
will be filled up to a maximum momentum, called the Fermi momentum pF.
The number of these states follows from integrating eq.(1) from 0 to pmax=pF:
pF

~=
V ⋅ 4π ∫ p 2 dp
V ⋅ 4π pF3 ~= V ⋅ p 3
(2)
n 0
= ⇒ n F

(2πh )3 (2πh )3 ⋅ 3 6π 2 h 3
Since an energy state can contain two fermions of the same species, we can have

Neutrons: N =
V ⋅ pFn ( ) 3
V ⋅ pFp ( ) 3

Protons: Z =
3π 2 h 3 3π 2 h 3
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pFn is the fermi momentum for neutrons, pFp – for protons
 Fermi momentum
4π 3 4π 3
Let‘s estimate Fermi momentum pF: Use R = R0 .A1/3 fm, V = R = R0 A
3 3
The density of nucleons in a nucleus = number of nucleons in a volume V (cf. Eq.(2)):
3 3 3 3
~ = 2⋅ V ⋅ p F 4 π 3 p F 4 A R0 p F
n = 2⋅n = 2 ⋅ R0 A ⋅ = (3)
6π 2 h 3 3 6π 2 h 3 9π h 3
two spin states !
Fermi momentum pF:
1/ 3 1/ 3
 6π h n 
2 3
 9πh n 
3
 9π ⋅ n 
1/ 3
h
pF =   =  
3 
=  ⋅ (4)
 2V   4 A R0   4A  R0
After assuming that the proton and neutron potential wells have the same radius,
we find for a nucleus with n=Z=N =A/2 the Fermi momentum pF:
1/ 3
 9π  h The nucleons move freely
pF = p F = pF = 
n p
 ⋅ ≈ 250 MeV c
 8  R0 inside the nucleus with large
momentum!
Fermi energy: pF2
EF = ≈ 33 MeV
2M
M =938 MeV- the mass of nucleon 16
 Nucleon potential
 The difference B‘ between the top of the
well and the Fermi level is constant for
most nuclei and is just the average binding
energy per nucleon B/A = 7–8 MeV.
V0
 The depth of the potential V0 and the
Fermi energy are independent of the mass
number A:
V0 = E F + B' ≈ 40 MeV
 Heavy nuclei have a surplus of neutrons. Since the Fermi level of the protons and
neutrons in a stable nucleus have to be equal (otherwise the nucleus would enter a
more energetically favourable state through β-decay) this implies that the depth of
the potential well as it is experienced by the neutron gas has to be larger than of the
proton gas (cf. Fig.), i.e. E Fn > E Fp
 protons are therefore on average less strongly bound in nuclei than neutrons.
This may be understood as a consequence of the Coulomb repulsion of the charged
protons and leads to an extra term in the potential:

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 Kinetic energy
The dependence of the binding energy on the surplus of neutrons may be
calculated within the Fermi gas model.
 First we find the average kinetic energy per nucleon:
dn pF dn
∫
EF
∫0 E ⋅
dE
dE 0
E⋅
dp
dp dn p
= Const ⋅ p 2 and dE = dp
E = = where
E F dn pF dn dp E
∫0 dE dE ∫0 dp
dp
distribution function
of the nucleons – from (1)
pF p2 2
∫
pF

E kin =
∫
0
E kin ( p ) p 2 dp
=
0 2M
p dp 3 p 2
= F
≈ 20 MeV Non-relativistic:
pF pF p2
∫ p 2 dp ∫ p dp 5 2M
2
E kin ( p ) =
0 0 2M

 The total kinetic energy of the nucleus is therefore

(5)

where the radii of the proton and the neutron potential well have again been
taken the same. 18
 Binding energy
This average kinetic energy has a minimum at N = Z for fixed mass number A (but
varying N or, equivalently, Z). Hence the binding energy gets maximal for N = Z.
If we expand (5) in the difference N − Z we obtain

The first term corresponds to the volume

energy in the Weizsäcker mass formula,
the second one to the asymmetry energy.
The asymmetry energy grows with the
neutron (or proton) surplus, thereby
reducing the binding energy

Note: this consideration neglected the

change of the nuclear potential connected
to a change of N on cost of Z. This
additional correction turns out to be as
important as the change in kinetic energy.
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