New Statistical Theory of the Nuclear Surface. I

Abstract

The Thomas-Fermi integral theory of the nuclear surface is shown to have singular solutions for the nuclear density. This failure is traced to its inadequate representation of the behavior of wave functions in a potential. A new theory based on approximate wave functions is developed and shown to be asymptotic to the Thomas-Fermi theory in the interior of the nucleus. An improved treatment of exchange forces is shown to be essential to obtaining realistic solutions.