Bulk Nuclear Properties and Nuclear Matter

The universe contains a remarkably wide variety of atomic nuclei, with mass numbers A (the sum of the numbers of proton Z and the neutron N) up to 250. While there are many interesting properties details that differentiate these nuclei from each other, there is also a powerful set of systematic trends and general properties that provide an important and useful framework for understanding the basic structure of nuclei. There properties are essentially determined by the so-called mean-field approach, in which one nucleon experiences a field which is the sum of the interaction with many other nucleons. This mean field property is a reflection that the density of the nucleons are relatively low and the interaction between the nucleons are relatively week. As such, the nucleon-nucleon correlation is small. The Hartree-Fock Mean field theory is main theoretical tool for dealing with systems with little correlations. Beyond that, the nucleon-nucleon correlations can be calculated using Bethe-Goldstone equations. These equations differ from free-space Schrodinger equation in that many-body Pauli blocking effects are taken into account. These theoretical tools are best illustrated in the example of nuclear matter in which the Coulomb potential is turned off and there are equal number of protons and neutrons. The finite size effect of the nuclear system will be taken up in the next Chapter.