Nuclear Coupling
In atomic nuclei, the spin-orbit interaction is much stronger than for atomic electrons, and is incorporated directly into the nuclear shell model. In addition, unlike atomic-electron term symbols, the lowest energy state is not L − S, but rather, l + s. All nuclear levels whose l value (orbital angular momentum) is greater than zero are thus split in the shell model to create states designated by l + s and l − s. Due to the nature of the shell model, which assumes an average potential rather than a central Coulombic potential, the nucleons that go into the l + s and l − s nuclear states are considered degenerate within each orbital (e.g. The 2p3/2 contains four nucleons, all of the same energy. Higher in energy is the 2p1/2 which contains two equal-energy nucleons).
Read more about this topic: Angular Momentum Coupling
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