Electromagnetic Theory of the Binding Energy

of the Hydrogen Isotopes.

Author Bernard Schaeffer

Address 7, rue de l’Ambroisie, 75012, Paris, France

E-mail bschaeffer@wanadoo.fr

Abstract Bieler of the Rutherford laboratory imagined in 1924 a magnetic

attraction equilibrating an electrostatic repulsion between the protons. Since
the discovery of the neutron and the magnetic moments of the nucleons proving
that the neutron contains electric charges, nobody, as far as I know, has tried
to apply electromagnetism to the nuclear interaction. As it is well known,
there is an attraction between an electric charge and a neutral conductor. In
the deuteron, the positive charge of the neutron is repelled and the negative
charge is attracted by the proton with a net attraction. The repulsion between
the magnetic moments equilibrates the electrostatically induced attraction.
The calculated value is − 1.6 M eV not too far from the experimental value
(− 2.2 M eV ). The calculated 7 hydrogen isotopes stay satisfactorily along the
experimental isotopic parabola. No arbitrary fitting parameter is used, only
universal physical constants. The electromagnetic theory predicts a theoretical
ratio between nuclear and chemical energies : mmepα .

1 Introduction

The Greeks already knew the electrical properties of amber (elektron) and
the magnetic properties of magnetite. Bieler in 1924 wrote “as the angle in-
creases, the ratio of the actual scattering to what would be expected on the
inverse-square law diminishes rapidly. This suggests the existence of an at-
tractive force at short distances from the nucleus”. He made an “attempt to
explain on a magnetic hypothesis this inverse fourth-power term in the law
of force”[1]. The neutron was discovered in 1931 by his colleague, Chadwick.
The neutron seeming to be uncharged, the electromagnetic hypothesis for the
nuclear interaction was abandoned. The magnetic moments of the proton and
of the deuteron were discovered in 1932 by Stern and the magnetic moment of
the neutron in 1940 by Bloch. The non-zero magnetic moment of the neutron
indicates that it is not an elementary particle, as it carries no net charge but

1
still interacts with a magnetic field. Adding algebraically the magnetic mo-
ments of the proton and the neutron, Bloch obtained the magnetic moment of
the deuteron, in a first approximation, without taking contribution from the
orbital movement [2]. Barut suggested that “all forces of elementary particles
are already dynamically unified under electromagnetism”[3]. In spite of the
discovery of the magnetic moment and the electric charges in the neutron,
short range electric and magnetic interactions between nearby neutrons are,
except the Coulomb barrier, still ignored. We shall show, using the laws of
electromagnetism, that the electromagnetic interaction is not so feeble and
may explain quantitatively the nuclear interaction. A free neutron does not
have an electric dipole moment but the dipole may be induced by the elec-
trostatic induction of a nearby proton in the same way as pieces of paper are
attracted by the electrostatic influence of a rubbed plastic pen. “The positive
charge attracts negative charges to the side closer to itself and leaves positive
charges on the surface of the far side. The attraction by the negative charges
exceeds the repulsion from the positive charges, there is a net attraction”[4].
There is also a magnetic interaction between the nucleons that can be attrac-
tive or repulsive depending on the position and orientation of their magnetic
moments.

2 Principle of the calculation

The permanent dipole of an isolated neutron is negligible but it may be in-

duced by the electrostatic induction of a nearby proton. Combined with the
proton, the neutron becomes the deuteron and the induced dipole the deuteron
quadrupole. We shall first compute the interacting force and energy between
two particles having an electrostatic charge and a magnetic moment. N -body
calculations being generally intractable, judicious approximations are neces-
sary to obtain an analytical formula of the hydrogen isotopes binding energy.
Only universal constants will be used (elementary electric charge e, neutron
and proton magnetic moments µn , µp , electric permitivity 0 , magnetic per-
meability µ0 , light speed c or, equivalently, fine structure constant α, proton
mass mp , neutron and proton Landé factors gn , gp ).

2.1 Electromagnetic interaction energy in a nucleus

The general formula of the Coulomb interaction between two particles i and
j with electric charges ei and ej , combined with the interaction between two

2
Figure 1. Schematic deuteron structure. - The neutron potential is in 1/r at a short
distance and in 1/r2 at a large distance explaining the neutrality of the neutron at a
large distance from a proton. The proton potential is everywhere in 1/r. Because of
the proximity of a neutron and a proton in a nucleus, there is a dissymmetry causing
an attraction as in any electrostatic induction [4]. The magnetic moments of the
neutron and of the proton are opposite (north poles near contact) and collinear, thus
producing a repulsive potential in 1/r3 equilibrating the electrostatic attraction.

magnetic dipoles µi et µj carried by these particles is [8][9][10] :

" #
XX ei ej X X µ0 3 (µ~i • r~ij ) (µ~j • r~ij )
Uem = + 3
µ~i • µ~j − 2
(1)
i i6=j 4π0 rij i i6=j 4πrij rij

where rij is the distance between the centers of the nucleons. This formula
shows that the Coulomb potential is attractive or repulsive depending on the
sign of the product of the electric charges. The magnetic potential is attractive
or repulsive depending on orientation and position of the magnetic moments
of the nucleons.

2.2 Charges in the neutron

If the neutron has no charge, its electrostatic energy is zero. The proton
containing one elementary charge + e, its electrostatic energy is, for a radius
r = 1 fm :

e2
U= = 1.44 M eV (2)
4π0 r
The proton should be heavier than the neutron by nearly the same quantity.
The sign is wrong : the neutron is heavier than the proton [4] by approxima-
tely the same quantity 1.29 M eV . A simple explanation is that the neutron
contains two opposite elementary electric charges + e and − e. Its mass ex-
ceeds that of the proton by twice the electrostatic energy of the proton, as

3
Figure 2. Neutron-proton interaction potential in the deuteron. - The potential is
given in MeV as a function of the distance rnp between the centers of the neutron and
the proton. When the neutron and the proton are separated by a medium to large
distance, their interaction is negligible, due to the charge-dipole interaction potential
1/r2 . At a separation distance r between 0.6 f m and 1 f m, at contact, the Coulomb
attractive potential in 1/r is predominant over the charge-dipole interaction in 1/r2
(neglected in a first approximation) and the magnetic interaction in 1/r3 . In the
soft core region (r smaller than 0.6 fm), the magnetic repulsion potential in 1/r3 is
predominant : it is the soft core. At distances < 0.5 f m hard core potentials with
infinitely strong repulsions have been used [11]. gn and gp are the Landé factors of
the neutron and the proton, α is the fine structure constant, mp and RP are the
proton mass and Compton radius.

observed. We may therefore assume that the neutron contains two electric
charges + e and − e.

3 Potential and binding energy of the hydrogen isotopes

3.1 Deuteron potential energy

The proton contains a positive charge + e. The neutron contains electric

charges globally neutral, without any dipole when isolated from a proton.
The electric field of the proton, acting on a neighboring neutron, separates

4
the neutron charges by electrostatic induction, creating an induced electric
dipole (figure 1). The negative charge of the neutron is attracted by the pro-
ton. The positive charge of the neutron is repulsed. Therefore, according to
the Coulomb law, the attractive force is stronger than the repulsive force. The
induced electric dipole, combined with the proton electric charge, becomes the
quadrupole of the deuteron. Its moment is Q = 0.288 fm2 = (0.54 fm)2 . This
means that the distances between the electric charges are of the order of the
nucleon size and that the deuteron, having a positive sign, is prolate, elon-
gated as an olive. “Unfortunately, the multipole expansion is not applicable
when the molecules are separated by distances comparable to the molecular
dimensions”[6]. This is also true for the atomic nucleus : the far-field or di-
pole approximation is not applicable when the distance between the electrical
charges is comparable to the nucleon size. This is justified by the Coulomb
law. Indeed the 1/r variation of the electrostatic potential decreases with the
distance r and the attraction by the proton is larger than the repulsion. The
positive charge of the neutron, being at a distance from the center of the pro-
ton between two and three times the radius of a nucleon, may be neglected
in a first approximation with an error estimated to 30 %. Therefore, only
the positive charge of the neutron will be taken into account. The magnetic
moment of the deuteron is close to the algebraic sum of the proton and neu-
tron magnetic moments [7]. By reason of symmetry, they have to be collinear.
There is therefore a magnetic repulsion between the proton and the neutron.
Magnetic monopoles having never been observed, the distance between the
magnetic charges is unknown. We may thus use the far field approximation
for the magnetic interaction between magnetic dipoles.

Using the relation 0 µ0 c2 = 1, the electromagnetic nuclear potential is, accor-

ding to (1) :  
e2  1 2|µn µp | 
Uem = Ue + Um = − − (3)
4π0 rnp (ec)2 rnp3

2
Using the fine structure constant α = 2e0 hc , the proton Compton radius RP =
h̄ eh̄ e2
mp c
= 0, 21f m, the nuclear magneton µN = 2m p
, we have 4π 0
= αmp c2 RP .
We have also, for a magnetic moment µ of Landé factor g, µ = g2 µN = RP gec 4
and the deuteron potential is :
 !3 
RP |gn gp | RP
Uem = − αmp c2  −  (4)
rnp 8 rnp

or numerically :
 !2 
1, 44  0.34
Uem (rnp ) = − 1−  M eV (5)
rnp rnp

5
It may be noticed that, when rnp is large, formula (5) becomes formula (2).
The calculated electromagnetic potential between a neutron and a proton in
the deuteron is shown on figure 2.

3.2 Deuteron binding energy

The binding energy is the potential at equilibrium. The derivative of the po-
tential energy relative to the radius rnp has to be a zero force at equilibrium :

3|gn gp | RP3
" #
dUem RP
F =− = − αmp c2 2 − 4
=0 (6)
drnp rnp 8 rnp

The distance between the centers of the neutron and the proton at equilibrium
is s
3|gn gp |
rnp = RP (7)
8
Replacing rnp in the potential, the binding energy is :

2 RP
BEem = − αmp c2 (8)
3 rnp

The binding energy per nucleon is, for A = 2 :

s s
2 2 2 938 2 8
BEem /A = − αmp c =− × = −0.8 M eV
3 |gn gp | 137 3 3 × 3, 8 × 5, 6
(9)
This total calculated binding energy, 1.6 M eV , is 30 % lower (in absolute
value) than the experimental value, 2.2 M eV . The binding energy of the deu-
teron may thus be predicted electromagnetically at least approximately but
without fitting. This calculation uses only classical electrostatics, magnetosta-
tics and universal constants.

3.3 Hydrogen isotopes with N > 1

According to the general formula (1) applied to the assumed structure of the
hydrogen isotopes (figure 3), we have :

1 - No magnetic bond np because the proton magnetic moment is perpendicu-

lar to the neutrons magnetic moments and also to the line joining a neutron
to the proton.

2 - Attraction by electrostatic induction between the proton and the N neu-

trons. There are thus N np electric bonds. The positive charge of the neutrons,

6
Figure 3. Hydrogen isotopes structure. - The neutrons, situated on a circle of radius
rnp are distant of rnn from their two nearest neighbors. Their magnetic moments
are radially oriented, located in a plane perpendicular to the symmetry axis which is
the magnetic moment of the proton. The magnetic moments of the neutron and the
proton are collinear in the deuteron and perpendicular in the other isotopes. θ is the
angle between the magnetic moments of two neighboring neutrons. The repulsion
between neutrons varies with the distance rnn between them ; it is minimum for 3 H
and maximum for 7 H.

situated outside, farther away from the proton than the negative charge, at-
tracted by the proton, is neglected, as for the deuterium.

3 - Electrostatic and magnetic repulsion between the N neutrons by reason

of symmetry. The interaction between neutrons being limited to their first
neighbors, there are N nn bonds instead of N (N − 1)/2. Again, the positive
charge of the neutrons, situated at the periphery, is neglected.

The electromagnetic potential energy of a hydrogen isotope with N neutrons

7
is thus :

N e2 N e2
" #
N µ0 3 (~µn1 • ~rn1 n2 ) (µ~n2 • ~rn1 n2 )
Uem =− + + µ
~ n 1 • µ
~ n2 −
4π0 rnp 4π0 rn1 n2 4πrn3 1 n2 rn2 1 n2
(10)

where ~rn1 n2 is the vector radius between neighboring neutrons n1 and n2 . If θ

is the angle between the magnetic moments of neighboring neutrons n1 and
n2 , we have, according to figure 3 :

θ π
rn1 n2 = 2rnp sin = 2rnp sin (11)
2 N

From formula (10) and from the hydrogen nuclei structure, using 0 µ0 c2 = 1
and µn = g2m
n eh̄
p
we obtain :
 !2 
2 cos 2π + 3 sin2 π
!
Ne π 1 1 gn h̄ 1 
 
N N
Uem = −  2 sin −1 −
8π0 sin Nπ N rnp 8 2mp c sin3 Nπ 2
rnp
(12)

Using the proton Compton radius RP = mh̄p c , at equilibrium between electro-

static attraction and magnetic repulsion, the force is zero F = − dU em
drnp
=0:

cos 2π + 3 sin2 π
2
N e2
" ! #
π 1 3 gn RP 1
 
N N
− 2 sin − 1 2 − =0
8π0 sin Nπ N rnp 8 2 sin2 Nπ 4
rnp
(13)

Solving for rnp we obtain :

√ v
|gn | 3 u cos 2π + 3 sin2 π
u
N N
rnp = RP √ t (14)
4 2 sin Nπ sin Nπ − 1

The radius is infinite for N = 2 (formula (14) does not apply to 2 H) and
N = 6. Putting the expression of rnp only into the brackets of the potential
(12), the electromagnetically calculated binding energy writes :

e2 2N
BEem /A = − (15)
4π0 rnp 3(N + 1)

Replacing now rnp in the binding energy (15) we obtain the binding energy of
the hydrogen isotopes where 2 ≤ N ≤ 6 or 3 ≤ A ≤ 7. Using the fine structure
gn h̄
constant α and the Landé factor gn , defined by the formula µn = 4m p
of the

8
neutron we obtain :
v 
u
8
u 2 sin π
N
− 1 sin2 π
N N
BEem /A = − √ αmp c2
u
t (16)
3 3gn cos 2π
N
+ 3 sin2 Nπ (N + 1)

αmp c2 = 938/137 = 6.8 M eV is not far from the binding energy per nucleon
7.1 M eV of the α particle. The parameters of the formula depend solely on
the geometrical structure of the nucleus, the Landé factors and the number
of neutrons (Z = 1). Only the neutron magnetic moment appears in formula
(16) although both moments µn and µp appear in the deuteron formula. This
is because the magnetic moments of the hydrogen isotopes are perpendicular
to the proton magnetic moment while they are collinear in the deuteron. Ac-
cording to formula (16), the binding energy is zero for N = 6 ; the reason for
it is that the electrostatic attraction between a proton and a neutron is equal
to the repulsion between the neutrons : there is no electrostatic attraction.
The binding energy is also zero for N = 1, e.g. for the deuteron where formula
(9) must be used instead of (16). Numerically, with only the number N of
neutrons as a parameter, formula (16) writes
v 
u
u 2 sin π
u N
− 1 sin2 π
N N 938
BEem /A = −0.91t M eV (17)
cos 2π
N
+ 3 sin2 Nπ (N + 1) 137

Figure 4 shows the variation of the calculated and measured binding energies
of the hydrogen isotopes for N = 0 to 6.

4 Nuclear and chemical energies

The energy needed to separate an electron from a proton is given by the

Rydberg constant
1
Ry = α2 me c2 = −13.6eV (18)
2
which is the separation energy of an electron from a hydrogen atom according
to Bohr’s formula. Formulas (9) and (16) show that the separation energy of a
neutron from a proton may be characterized by a formula similar to (18) but
where α appears to the first power and the proton mass replaces the electron
mass :
1
αmp c2 = −3.5 M eV (19)
2
This value is near to the binding energy of the deuteron (−2.2 M eV ). Com-
paring formulas (18) and (19), the nuclear energy is, for the same weight,

9
Figure 4. Binding energies of the hydrogen isotopes calculated and measured. -
Formula (17), shown on the figure, is valid for the isotopes where the magnetic
moments of the proton and the neutrons are perpendicular. Therefore it cannot be
used for the deuteron where the magnetic moments are collinear. For N = 6, the
calculated binding energy is zero, coinciding approximately with the experimental
observation that the heaviest known hydrogen isotope is 7 H [12]. The maximum
energy value occurs for 3 H(N = 2). The experimental and the theoretical isotopic
parabolas coincide satisfactorily. According to the shell model there sould be two
theoretical parabolas [13]. The semi-empirical Bethe-Weizsäcker formula provides
a poor fit to very light nuclei, e.g. 4 He [15]. The binding energies, calculated from
nuclear masses [14], except 7 H [16], are taken positive on the graph.
mp
me α
= 1, 836 × 137 = 250, 000 times more concentrated than the chemical
energy.

5 Conclusions

The following results have been obtained by applying the electromagnetic

theory to the atomic nucleus :

- The calculated hydrogen isotope binding energies agree satisfactorily with

the experimental data.

- The hypothesis that the proton contains one charge + e and the neutron

10
two, + e and − e, explaining its larger weight, is used to obtain the binding
energies.

- The electrostatic attraction induced by a nearby proton on a neutron explains

quantitatively the strong force.

- The repulsion between the magnetic moments of the nucleons explains the
hard and soft cores.

- A nuclear equivalent of the Rydberg constant has been found.

mp
- The ratio between nuclear and chemical energy is discovered to be me α
.

The next step will be to calculate the helium isotopes, then the nuclides in
general. Electromagnetism may open a new way of thinking nuclear physics.

Références

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(Pearson/Addison-Wesley, 2006)
[5] M. S. Longair, Theoretical concepts in physics : an alternative view of theoretical
reasoning in physics (Cambridge University Press, 2003).
[6] A.R. Leach, Molecular modelling : principles and applications (Pearson
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[7] V.F. Weisskopf, J.M. Blatt, Theoretical Nuclear Physics (Courier Dover
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[8] G.E. Owen, Introduction to Electromagnetic Theory (Courier Dover Publications,
2003).
[9] K. Yosida, Theory of magnetism (Springer, 1996).
[10] J.C. Maxwell, A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, Volume 2 (Cambridge
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(Springer, 2003).
[12] M. Caamaño et al., EPJ Special topics, 150, 9-12 (2007).
[13] O. Manuel, C. Bolon, A. Katragada, and M. Insall Journal of Fusion Energy
19, 93-98 (2001).
[14] G. Audi et al., Nuclear Physics A 729, 337–676 (2003).

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[15] Yu. E. Penionzhkevich, Hyperfine Interactions, 171, 157-166 (2007).
[16] D. Cortina-Gil1, W. Mittig, Europhysics News 41, 23 - 26 (2010).

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