Energy Levels of Light Nuclei

Abstract

The study of the energy levels of nuclei is essentially concerned with the
\nlocation of the various stationary and quasi-stationary states characteristic
\nof nuclear systems and the determination of the properties of these states.
\nOne pictures the stationary energy levels as representing arrangements of
\nthe nuclear constituents which are particularly preferred over other possible
\narrangements and which may exist for periods of time many orders of magnitude
\nlonger than the time required for a nucleon to traverse the effective
\ndimensions of the nucleus. There is cause for hope that, by examining the
\ndistribution in excitation energy of such preferred arrangements and by
\nstudying their modes of formation and decay, one may eventually achieve
\nan understanding of how nuclei are constructed and how the various particles
\nwithin the nucleus interact. Clearly the matter is not simple: if it were
\nnot for the fact that both experiment and theory have been beset with perplexing
\ndifficulties, there would be little occasion for writing in 1951 a progress
\nreport on an art which had its inception in 1919.