Bonding in molecular states of light even-even nuclei

This analysis of the bonding in the excited molecular states of C-12, O-16, Ne-20, Mg-24, Si-21 and S-32 as proposed by Ikeda is based on the concept of meson bonds. This shows a very regular variation in the bonding between alpha particles in each nucleus as the excitation energy changes. Furthermore, the most excited state of each nucleus is shown to be less strongly bound than are the less excited states.