Triton Clustering in Neutron Rich Nuclei

TL;DR

This paper proposes a triton clustering model to explain the unexpected stability of certain neutron-rich nuclei, suggesting they can be viewed as bound states of multiple tritons, which offers new insights into nuclear structure.

Contribution

It introduces a novel triton clustering perspective for understanding stability in neutron-rich nuclei, connecting experimental observations with a new theoretical framework.

Findings

$^{24}O$ and $^{27}F$ are modeled as bound states of 8 and 9 tritons.

Predicted $^{42}Si$ as a bound state of 14 tritons.

Explains stability differences between oxygen and fluorine isotopes.

Abstract

Recently, it has been reported that as one goes from oxygen to fluorine, just the addition of one more proton, provides extraordinary stability to fluorine which can bind six more neutrons beyond what oxygen can. It is shown here that this surprising stability can be understood if neutron rich nuclei, $^{24}O$ and $^{27}F$ are treated as bound states of eight and nine-tritons respectively. Also the recently discovered $^{42}Si$ is predicted to have a bound state structure of fourteen tritons.