Self-organization in the nuclear system: I. The slaving principle

The properties of the atomic nucleus are investigated from the point of view of selforganization. The nucleus is described as an Open quantum mechanical many-body system embedded in the continuum of decay channels. The transition from low to high level density is traced as a function of the coupling strength between the discrete nuclear states and the environment of decay channels. A redistribution inside the nucleus takes place in a small region around some critical value of the coupling strength. As a result of ehe redistrilbution, the effective number of degrees of freedom is reduced. The analogy of thle results obtained numerically for the nuclear system to the laws of synergetics is investigated. The slaving principle is shown to hold in thle Open quantum system.