Alpha-particle model for nuclear matter

Infinite nuclear matter is assumed to be composed of an equal even number of protons and neutrons. The surface region of nuclear matter is replaced by an assembly of alpha-particles interacting through a potential composed of a strong short-range repulsion and a weak long-range attraction of the Gaussian form. The energy gap in nuclear matter and the effective mass of alpha particles have been calculated. The result shows that the energy gap is more than 2 MeV but 5 MeV. The ratio of the effective mass m* to the free particle mass m of alpha-particles is always greater than unity and its maximum value is a little over 5. For an assembly of alpha-particles to be stable, it must be a dilute weakly interacting assembly. The net interaction must be repulsive and the nuclear density should be less than the saturation limit. The results have been compared with previous calculations.The author is very grateful to Prof. B. R. Seth, Prof. A. M. Sessler and Prof. S. Duttamazumdar for encouragement and helpful discussions.