Nuclear stability and the Fold Catastrophe

Abstract

A geometrical analysis of the stability of nuclei against deformations is presented. In particular, we use Catastrophe Theory to illustrate discontinuous changes in the behavior of nuclei with respect to deformations as one moves in the N - Z space. We construct a minimalistic deformation model using the microscopic-macroscopic approach. A third-order phase transition is found in the liquid-drop model, which translates to a complete loss of stability (using the Fold catastrophe) when shell effects are included. The analysis is found to explain the instability of known fissile nuclei and also justify known decay chains of heavy nuclei.