Light Nuclei as Quantized Skyrmions

TL;DR

This paper develops a method to quantize light nuclei modeled as Skyrmions using the rational map approximation, deriving new formulas for inertia tensors, and compares theoretical energy levels with experimental data, predicting some unobserved states.

Contribution

It introduces general expressions for inertia tensors of quantized Skyrmions and applies them to nuclei with charges 1 to 8, enhancing the understanding of their quantum states.

Findings

Derived new formulas for inertia tensors in Skyrmion quantization.

Calculated energy levels for nuclei with charges 1 to 8.

Predicted energies and spins of unobserved nuclear states.

Abstract

We consider the rigid body quantization of Skyrmions with topological charges 1 to 8, as approximated by the rational map ansatz. Novel, general expressions for the elements of the inertia tensors, in terms of the approximating rational map, are presented and are used to determine the kinetic energy contribution to the total energy of the ground and excited states of the quantized Skyrmions. Our results are compared to the experimentally determined energy levels of the corresponding nuclei, and the energies and spins of a few as yet unobserved states are predicted.