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Competition at nuclear extremes explains why neutrons drip off nuclei

The neutron drip line refers to the maximum number of neutrons that can be packed into the atomic nuclei of each chemical element. A mechanism has been proposed that could explain the long-debated origin of this drip line.
  1. Calvin W. Johnson

    1. Calvin W. Johnson is in the Department of Physics, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182, USA.

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Whereas some people play extreme sports, many nuclear physicists seek the thrill of extreme isotopes, by finding, for each chemical element, the largest possible number of neutrons that can be held by an atom. This boundary of nuclear existence, called the neutron drip line, has not been fully mapped — although the construction of rare-isotope facilities1 will bring the goal closer. Moreover, even the theoretical location of the drip line is uncertain2,3. In a paper in Nature, Tsunoda et al.4 argue that the mechanism responsible for the drip line is more subtle than previously understood and is related to deformation, a hallmark of much of ordinary nuclear physics.

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Nature 587, 40-41 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03016-7

References

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