STATISTICAL PROPERTIES OF ATOMIC AND NUCLEAR SPECTRA

Abstract

A brief survey was presented of the experimental data on the distributions of the neutron widths of nuclear finestructure levels and of the nearest-neighbor spacings for both atomic and nuclear energy levels. Random- matrix mcdels to predict these data were discussed both analytically (in all possible cases) and via Monte-Carlo machine calculations. Evidence from explicit atomic and nuclear model calculations was shown to support the statistical hypotheses suggested for the Hamiltonian matrix. On this basis it was found that it was possible to achieve a unified discussion of the underlying statistical properties of atomic and nuclear spectra, excluding collective phenomena of which the statistical behavior of the fission widths was the most prominent example. (auth)