Hypernuclear binding energies in the α-particle model

The binding energies B_Λ for the hypernuclei with baryon number A = 4N + 1 up to_Λ²⁵Mg have been calculated by the variational method in the framework of Brink's α-particle model. The central ΛN potential is adjusted to the binding energy of_Λ⁵He. Due to their strong dependence on the nuclear density, the B_Λ energies are very sensitive to the choice of the effective nuclear interaction and have reasonable values for large A with the potential B1 of Brink and Boeker. The comparison with the B_Λ values obtained in the limiting shell model and the consideration of two different Λ-particle wave functions both indicate that the effect of nuclear clustering on B_Λ is significant only for_Λ⁹Be and_Λ¹³C. The nuclear distortion due to the Λ-particle binding is also evaluated in this calculation.