Pairing of Neutrons and Protons in N = Z Nuclei

Values of neutron–proton pairing based on mass relations are estimated. It is shown that substantially different formulas for calculating the np-pairing energy in self-conjugate nuclei yield similar results. Comparison of the obtained values and the structure of ground state multiplet spectra shows that mass relations can be used to describe the isovector (T = 1) component of np-pairing to sufficient accuracy, but provides little or no information on isoscalar component T = 0.