The Architecture of Nuclear Binding Energy

Nuclear binding energy is the best measured property of the atomic nucleus, but no previous model of the nucleus has accurately explained the experimental data for small nuclei. Current models either get the general shape of the curve right but the magnitudes wrong, or get closer to the magnitudes but deviate from the shape of the curve. We derive a new model of the binding energies of atomic nuclei largely free of these defects. Plausible internal structures of protons and neutrons deduced from their known properties lead to a natural physical interpretation of the mass defect. The structures of quarks internal to the particles determine two types of binding energy. These combine with electromagnetic forces to duplicate the binding energy of 12 isotopes from deuterium through carbon with correlation 0.999. Average absolute difference between the model and experimental data is 1.43%, compared with the next closest model at 10.95%.