The Deuteron

The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki
05/01/13 5:21 PM
The Deuteron
Deuteron is the simplest nuclear system where nuclear
forces come into play. It is the Hydrogen Atom of nuclear physics. It may also be viewed as the simplest oddodd nucleus, having one proton and one neutron. It exhibits features which require the use of a number of new
concepts such as exchange force, tensor force etc. Of three
possible states of two nucleon system, di-neutron, di-proton, and deuteron only deuteron is known to be stable.
Since there are only two particles in the nucleus, the
deuteron problem can be reduced to a one body problem
in the center of mass frame and easily solved. We first discuss the various properties of deuteron.
Properties of Deuteron
It exists in its ground state only and has no excited states.
Thus when energy is supplied to it, it readily disintegrates
instead of going into higher energy states.
Binding Energy: The binding energy of the deuteron is
measured to be 2.22MeV. The measurements are carried
out by using the atomic-mass spectroscopy and nuclear reactions. Two direct methods involve the slow neutron capture by proton or, the inverse process i.e., the photo disinhttp://ictwiki.iitk.ernet.in/wiki/index.php/The_Deuteron
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tegration of deuteron.
As the binding energy is very small, the deuteron is a
loosely bound system. The depth of the potential well being 36MeV and the binding energy being 2.22MeV , it can
be termed as a loosely bound system. It is almost sitting almost at the mouth of the potential and hence there is no excited state.
Angular momentum and parity: The angular momentum J
has been measured by a number of optical, radio frequency
and microwave methods. The deuteron has angular
momentum. Since the parity of the nuclear state cannot be
measured directly, one uses the parity selection rules of
nuclear disintegrations and reactions to determine the parity. An even parity thus emerges as the most plausible assignment for the ground state of deuteron.
Radius of deuteron. High energy electron scattering gives
a root-mean square (rms) charge radius of deuteron to be
about 2.13 Fm. This is pretty large for a two particle system. The size of deuteron is thus more than 4 Fm.
Magnetic and Quadrupole Moments:

The magnetic dipole and the electric quadrupole moments
http://ictwiki.iitk.ernet.in/wiki/index.php/The_Deuteron
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of deuteron are most revealing properties as far as the nature of nuclear force is concerned.
It possesses a finite magnetic dipole moment of "d =
0.8574376(4)"N. This is almost the sum of neutron and proton magnetic moments. The sum , a value quite close to the
measured value but not exactly the same. It tells us
two things. One, the contribution of orbital motion to magnetic moment is zero implying a L = 0 state. Two, the values are not exactly same and, therefore, there is an admixture of non-zero L state.
It also possesses a small but finite quadrupole moment of
Q = 0.00282(1) barns. A non-zero quadrupole moment
again implies the presence of a non-zero L state.
Solution of the Deuteron problem

The two body problem of a neutron and a proton interacting with a force represented by a potential can
be transformed into the problem of a single particle in a
potential by the well known classical mechanical
transformation to the centre of mass frame of reference.
As the binding energy is very small compared to the depth
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of the potential, we may neglect it and this approach is

termed as the zero potential approximation. For simplicity
we use a square well potential, where the potential inside
the well is constant and negative and the potential outside
is zero. The square well potential is completely defined by
its depth V0 and its range r0 . We have,
V =
V0 for r < r0
--------------------
(1)
= 0
for
r > r0
---------------------
(2)
A graphical representation of the potential
We intend to find out
the values of V0 and r0
that will reproduce the
binding energy of the
deuteron
to
be
2.22MeV .
It is natural to assume that the ground state of the
deuteron is primarily (n = 1,l = 0) state. To obtain J = 1, we
must necessarily have S = 1 with L = 0. This assignment
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also gives us the positive parity for the ground state of

deuteron. The Schrdinger equation in the centre of mass
frame is given by
,----------------(3)
where the reduced mass m is given by,
------------------(4)
Here mp and mn are the masses of proton and neutron respectively. The average of the two masses is considered to
be M and r is the relative distance from the centre of mass.
For a central potential, the wave function can be separated
into its radial and angular parts,
----------------------(5)
The radial wave function ul is the solution of
-----------------(6)
This is the radial wave equation. The centrifugal potential
pulls the particles apart and to achieve binding we need an
attractive potential. The l = 0 state proves to be the easiest
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way to obtain such a binding wavefunction

------------------(7)
Using E = W = 2.22MeV, the binding energy of the
deuteron, we obtain
for r < r0---------------(8)
for r > r0------------(9)
where,
and
The general solution is given by,

u(r) = Asinkr + Bcoskr ----------------------(10)
The wave function is finite at r = 0 and zero at ,
which leads to u = r# vanishing at the origin and making it
square integrable. Another consequence of the above
boundary condition is that B turns out to be zero. Hence
the general solution becomes
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u(r) = Asinkr ---------------------(11)

The general solution of the wave function outside the
square well potential is,
u(r) = Ce r + Der ------------------(12)
Boundary condition at infinity demands
D = 0 so that
u(r) remains
finite. Thus
u(r) = Ce
r ------
-------(13)
At r = r0 both the wave function and its derivative should
be finite and continuous (and match with each other), so
that
--------------------(14)
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--------------------(15)
Taking the ratio of the two equations we obtain,
kcotkr0 =
--------------------(16)
Zero binding approximation:

Since
This leads to
------------(17)
--------------------
-(18)
And
--------------------(19)
We thus obtain,
.---------------(20)
Thus we get an approximate value of . From neutron
proton scattering, we know that r0 is approximately 2 Fermi. Putting the value into the equation (20), we obtain the
value of V0 = 36MeV . Also since the interior wave function
must match the external wave function, the value of kr0
must be slightly greater than (116 deg). Also for r0 =
2fermi , , which is an estimate of the size of the
deuteron, and is called the relaxation length.
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Graphical Solution:
We may write
, where x = kr0
Taking , and . Plot cotx and .
The intersecting points give
the solutions for x . We can see that Now, let
Substituting
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And
i.e the value of .
Normalization of the Deuteron wave function

The constants A and C are left undetermined since the relationship between well depth and width is independent of
them. To determine these constants, we impose the normalization condition
--------------------(21)
----------------(22)
---------------------(23)
Combining these equations with the previously obtained
values from the differentiability and continuity conditions,
we obtain the values of the constants to be
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.
To calculate the rms radius, we calculate the average of the
square of the proton to center of mass distance. This distance is half of the separation r between the proton and the
neutron, so that
.------------------(24)
Both the integrals are solved by partial integration method
and inserting the value of the normalization constants and
replacing the trigonometric functions by simple functions
of $ and k by using kcotkr0 = $ equation, we get,
-------------------(25)
We thus get the rms radius as a function of r0 .
In this derivation we have assumed that the proton is a
point charge, which is not true. It can be shown that if the
charge density of proton is spherically symmetric, the effect of this distributed charge on the rms radius of the
deuteron can be accounted for by adding the square of the
rms proton radius. Equation (26) therefore becomes
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----------------------(26)
Choosing the value of r0 = 2fm , , and , we obtain
. So, the size of the deuteron is
of the order of 4 fermi.
Tensor Forces and the deuteron problem

The ground state of deuteron has been observed to be a 3S1
state implying a spherically symmetric charge distribution.
This in turn implies that the electric quadrupole moment
should be zero. However deuteron is known to possess a
small positive quadrupole moment of
.This implies that the deuteron wave function is not spherically symmetric necessitating the introduction of an interaction potential which is not purely central. The magnetic
moment data also supports this conjecture since
.
The total angular momentum of the ground state of the
deuteron is J = 1 and must have a definite parity. The various possibilities which may lead to J = 1 are listed below:
l = 0,S = 1(3S1)
l = 1,S = 0(1P1)
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l = 1,S = 1(3P1)
l = 2,S = 1(3D1)
Configurations of different parity cannot mix. Thus the
only admixtures possible are 3S1 with 3D1 or, 3P1 with 1P1.
It is the first admixture of states, which is able to reproduce
the observed values of "d and Q. This problem is beyond
the scope of these lectures but may be found in the reference given below.
Reference
1. R.R. Roy and B.P. Nigam, Nuclear Physics (Wiley Eastern, 1979).
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The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki

The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki

Magnetic and Quadrupole Moments:

The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki

Solution of the Deuteron problem

The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki

of the potential, we may neglect it and this approach is

The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki

also gives us the positive parity for the ground state of

The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki

way to obtain such a binding wavefunction

The general solution is given by,

The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki

u(r) = Asinkr ---------------------(11)

The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki

Zero binding approximation:

The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki

The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki

Normalization of the Deuteron wave function

The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki

The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki

Tensor Forces and the deuteron problem

The Deuteron - ICT-Wiki

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