Nuclear States with High Angular Momenta According to the Single-Particle Model

Abstract

An expression for the minimum rotational energy of a nucleus is obtained assuming that any observable quantity may be represented by a sum of contributions from the individual nucleons. The expression is evaluated explicitly using the Fermi-gas model with two different potentials, and using the shell model. Computation of selected effective moments of inertia indicate that the moment of inertia of the nucleus is of the same order of magnitude as that of a rigid body.