Nuclear structure, periodicity, and reactions of stable nuclei through 36Ar from average quark positions

Abstract

Abstract Exact quark positions are indiscernible per the uncertainty principle. The hypothesis that quarks occupy average positions, however, leads to a variety of accurate predictions. Proposed average quark model (AQM) radius predictions correlate near-perfectly with accepted charge radii of stable nuclides through 36Ar. Per the model, alternating up- and down-quarks occupy average positions within linear and polygonal chains, and the distance between sequential quarks equals the proton’s radius. Best-fit solutions form anisotropic cylindrical lattices of stacked 6-nucleon (18-quark) rings. Evolving structures contain unique sub-structures that recur periodically every 12 nuclides, as presented within a periodic table of nuclear structures. Structural periodicity begins at 6Li and has led to the discovery of corresponding periodicities in nuclear magnetic moments and nucleosynthesis. The 12-nuclide periodicity of each is superior when analyzed against hypothetical 6,8,10,14, and 16-nuclide periodicities. Proposed quark structures are consistent with theoretical prolate hadron shapes, and open ring and cylindrical structures are consistent with electron scattering experiments demonstrating central depressions in the nuclide charge densities. A novel criterion of nuclear stability is presented: Nuclides containing contiguous alternating quark sequences tend to be stable, and tend to produce alternating nucleon sequences that contain stable equal ratios of neutrons to protons. Nuclides having disrupted quark sequences tend to be unstable, and tend to have unstable neutron/proton ratios. Model-consistent structures of 5He, 8Be, 18F, and 30P illuminate why they are unstable. The list of stable nuclides through 36Ar evolves one nucleon at a time. During nucleosynthesis, the AQM nuclide structure acts as a substrate that sterically selects whether a proton or neutron will be the next added nucleon, analogous to base pair selection in DNA replication. This method correctly predicts the most abundant isotope of every stable nuclide through 36Ar. The proposed model of nucleosynthesis exhibits important similarities to linear step-growth polymerization (SGP). Implications for the European Muon Collaboration effect are discussed.