Multilayer network analysis of nuclear reactions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a multilayer network approach to nuclear reactions, revealing correlations between physical properties and network topology that could help explore nuclide stability boundaries.

Contribution

It maps nuclear reactions into a four-layer directed network, providing new insights into the relationship between reaction network topology and nuclear properties.

Findings

High correlation between $eta$-stability and network metrics in the remainder layer.

Nuclide half-life inversely scales with out-strength at lower temperatures.

Network analysis offers a novel perspective on nuclear reaction characteristics.

Abstract

The nuclear reaction network is usually studied via precise calculation of differential equation sets, and much research interest has been focused on the characteristics of nuclides, such as half-life and size limit. In this paper, however, we adopt the methods from both multilayer and reaction networks, and obtain a distinctive view by mapping all the nuclear reactions in JINA REACLIB database into a directed network with 4 layers: neutron, proton, $^4$He and the remainder. The layer names correspond to reaction types decided by the currency particles consumed. This combined approach reveals that, in the remainder layer, the $\beta$-stability has high correlation with node degree difference and overlapping coefficient. Moreover, when reaction rates are considered as node strength, we find that, at lower temperatures, nuclide half-life scales reciprocally with its out-strength. The connection between physical properties and topological characteristics may help to explore the boundary of the nuclide chart.