Electron Scattering on 3 Nuclei Shows Shell Structure Governs Short-Range Pairing
Updated
Updated · Nature.com · Jun 4
Electron Scattering on 3 Nuclei Shows Shell Structure Governs Short-Range Pairing
3 articles · Updated · Nature.com · Jun 4
Summary
Experiments on 40Ca, 48Ca and 54Fe found short-range-correlated nucleon pairs track which quantum orbitals protons and neutrons occupy, not mainly nuclear mass or neutron-proton imbalance.
High-energy electron scattering let researchers compare per-nucleus cross-section ratios across the three targets, isolating how shell structure changes the formation of high-momentum proton-neutron pairs.
The effect was much stronger than current theoretical models predict, pointing to new angular-momentum selection rules for short-range nucleon pairing.
The result links long-range shell structure to short-distance strong-force behavior, offering a new way to refine nuclear theory and dense-matter models.