Alpha clustering effects in nuclear matter

Abstract

The importance of α-clustering effects in the interior region of heavy nuclei is estimated by studying the existence of such phenomena in infinite nuclear matter assuming a crystalline type of structure where each lattice site is occupied by an α-particle. The crystalline α-matter is described in terms of the microscopic α-particle model of Margenau, Bloch and Brink and its saturation properties are compared with those of the plane wave model for two different nucleon-nucleon interactions, namely the Brink and Boeker and the Skyrme interactions. It is shown that at normal densities of nuclear matter the plane wave model turns out to be more stable than the α-cluster, indicating that the α-type correlations are not important in the interior region of heavy nuclei, however at a density of approximately one-third of the central nuclear density a transition from the independent particle model to the correlated α-cluster crystalline model occurs, suggesting the importance of such correlation on the nuclear surface.