nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

, hyperdeformation is theoretically predicted states of an

atomic nucleus The atomic nucleus is the small, dense region consisting of protons and neutrons at the center of an atom, discovered in 1911 by Ernest Rutherford based on the 1909 Geiger–Marsden gold foil experiment. After the discovery of the neutron i ...

with extremely elongated shape and very high angular momentum. Less elongated states,

superdeformation In nuclear physics a superdeformed nucleus is a nucleus that is very far from spherical, forming an ellipsoid with axes in ratios of approximately 2:1:1. Normal deformation is approximately 1.3:1:1. Only some nuclei can exist in superdeformed state ...

, have been well observed, but the experimental evidence for hyperdeformation is more limited. Hyperdeformed states correspond to an axis ratio of 3:1. They would be caused by a third minimum in the

potential energy surface A potential energy surface (PES) describes the energy of a system, especially a collection of atoms, in terms of certain parameters, normally the positions of the atoms. The surface might define the energy as a function of one or more coordinates; ...

, the second causing superdeformation and the first minimum being normal deformation.

arXiv arXiv (pronounced "archive"—the X represents the Greek letter chi ⟨χ⟩) is an open-access repository of electronic preprints and postprints (known as e-prints) approved for posting after moderation, but not peer review. It consists of ...

0902.0095v1
/ref> Hyperdeformation is predicted to be found in ¹⁰⁷Cd.

References

Nuclear physics {{nuclear-stub