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URL中发布的核素图（Chart of Nuclides）——据推测该图囊括了所有已知的天然与人工核素——可证实存在两条界定线，学界公认其为物质组成成分的边界。学界认为，较轻的原子形成于特定恒星核心内的核合成过程，而较重的原子则诞生于老年恒星坍缩、超新星爆发或是双中子星并合事件中。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），通过计算得到两条边界线，其与核素图中的实验数据（尤其是远离稳定线/稳定谷的核素数据）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关于重核天体物理核合成过程及其与边界线关联的已知成果。