Bethe–Weizsäcker semiempirical mass formula coefficients 2019 update based on AME2016

Abstract

In the present work, the classical Bethe–Weizsacker (BW) mass formula with five energy terms is revisited and updated. We use the least-squares adjustments on the binding energy of 2497 different nuclides from the last update of the atomic mass evaluation, AME2016 published in March 2017, to provide a new set of energy coefficients of the mass formula. The obtained set of formula coefficients allowed us to reproduce most of the experimental values of the binding energies for each nucleus with $$A \ge 50$$. The comparison between the binding energies provided with updated mass formula and those of AME2016 on the one hand, and those of previous works, on the other hand, yields relative errors that oscillate between less than $$0.05\%$$ and $$1.5\%$$. The revisited BW formula is in very good agreement with the experimental data.