On the Binding Energy of the16O Nucleus

A variational calculation of the binding energy of the 16 O nucleus is presented. A two-body central Yukawa interaction with a hard core of radius a , and with Serber exchange is assumed and the parameters adjusted to fit the low energy data. A two-parameter trial function in the form of a product of harmonic oscillator shell model wave functions and correlation functions is assumed, and the Ursell-Jastrow cluster development is applied. The results show that the assumed two-body interaction with 0.2< a <0.6 is capable of reproducing the saturation of both binding and density of the 16 O nucleus.