In reply to Eric Walker's message of Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:40:15 -0700: Hi, [snip] > - In 3He, which is stable, electrostatic repulsion is felt between two > nucleons, and the strong interaction is felt equally between all nucleons. > In deuterium, which is stable, there is no electrostatic repulsion, and > the strong interaction is felt equally between both nucleons. In a > diproton, which is unstable, there is electrostatic repulsion, and > presumably the strong interaction is in affect to the same extent as > between the nucleons in a deuterium atom. Is the lack of stability of the > diproton due to a slight imbalance between electrostatic repulsion and the > residual strong force, or is it due to the combination of valence quarks > between the two nucleons not being quite right?
IMO (and I emphasize opinion), there is no nuclear force between like signed nucleons. I.e. protons do not attract one another, nor do neutrons. There is only a force between protons and neutrons. That means that they have to alternate in a nucleus. This explains why there is no 2He, 3Li, 4Be etc. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
