VALENCE CORRELATION SCHEME FOR SINGLE NUCLEON SEPARATION ENERGIES

A simple valence correlation scheme is presented in which empirical ne utron and proton separation energies, S-n and S-p, follow extremely co mpact, linear trajectories in terms of the variables alpha N-p-N-n. Th is scheme often allows predictions for unknown nuclei by interpolation rather than extrapolation. A Taylor expansion shows that the Weizsack er mass formula in fact behaves in first order as alpha N-p-N-n though such a functional dependence is not explicit and has not been noted b efore.