Nuclei as near BPS-Skyrmions

Understand

We study a generalization of the Skyrme model with the inclusion of a sixth-order term and a generalized mass term.

• We first analyze the model in a regime where the nonlinear sigma and Skyrme terms are switched to zero which leads to well-behaved analytical BPS-type solutions.
• Adding contributions from the rotational energy, we reproduce the mass of the most abundant isotopes to rather good accuracy.
• These BPS-type solutions are then used to compute the contributions from the nonlinear sigma and Skyrme terms when these are switched on.