The frontier lines of the constituents of matter

Abstract Looking at the chart of nuclides as presented at the URL of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) [1] – that, one supposes, contains all the known nuclides, the natural and the artificial ones – one verifies the existence of two delimiting lines admitted to be the borders of the constituents of matter. One assumes that the lighter atoms have been formed in a nucleosynthesis process within the core of certain stars while the heavier were produced during the implosion of old stars, a supernova or in the fusion of two neutron stars. Making use of the nuclear semiempirical mass formula along with the energy-time uncertainty relation of quantum mechanics, we show that the calculated border lines show an appreciable agreement with the data obtained from the Chart of Nuclides, the nuclides that are situated far away from those that define the line, or valley, of stability. We also briefly discuss, qualitatively, what is currently known about the astrophysical nucleogenesis processes of the heavier nuclei and their relation with the border lines.

摘要 观察国际原子能机构（International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA）[1]官网展示的核素图——据推测该图涵盖了所有已知的天然与人工核素——可观测到存在两条界定线，学界普遍认为它们是物质组成的边界。学界普遍认为，较轻的原子形成于特定恒星核心内的核合成（nucleosynthesis）过程，而较重的原子核则产生于老年恒星坍缩、超新星（supernova）爆发或双中子星（neutron stars）并合事件中。本文借助核半经验质量公式（nuclear semiempirical mass formula）与量子力学中的能量-时间不确定关系（energy-time uncertainty relation），通过计算得到的边界线与核素图数据（尤其是远离稳定谷（valley of stability）的核素数据）呈现出显著的吻合性。此外，本文还从定性角度简要讨论了当前学界对重核天体物理核合成（astrophysical nucleogenesis）过程及其与边界线之间关联的认知。