Nuclear binding energies from composite-knot ropelength

We report a curious numerical observation: if atomic nuclei are modelled as connect-sums of trefoil knots with alternating chirality, the ropelength of the composite knot — a purely geometric quantity requiring no quantum mechanics — tracks the experimental binding-energy curve from hydrogen to uranium. A two-parameter fit to 50 nuclei gives R² = 0.9998 and RMS = 6.9 MeV, outperforming the five-parameter Bethe–Weizsäcker formula (RMS = 8.3 MeV). Out-of-sample predictions for ²⁴⁴Pu and ²⁵²Cf, not used in the fit, are accurate to 0.4–8 MeV.