Theory of Nuclear Coulomb Energy

The characteristic oscillatory behavior of the Coulomb energy differences for light nuclei is explained in terms of the different values of the average Coulomb interaction between two particles when the wave function is, respectively, symmetrical and antisymmetrical in the space coordinates of the particles. The possible effect of the low binding energy of the least strongly bound particle in $4n+1$ nuclei is discussed. It is shown how the Coulomb energy differences obtained empirically from odd nuclei may be used to estimate Coulomb energy differences for various other cases.