On the Mass Defect of Helium

If one assumes that the potential energy between protons and neutrons has the shape of a simple potential hole, it is possible from the experimental value of the mass defect of the ${\mathrm{H}}^{2}$, to derive a connection between the mean width and the depth of this curve. This connection proves to be, to a large extent, independent of the finer details of the potential curve. By assuming a certain probable value, obtained from scattering experiments, for the width of the potential hole, it is possible to make calculations on the mass defects of other nuclei. Such computations were carried out for He and yield values which are greater than the mass defect of ${\mathrm{H}}^{2}$ by a rather large factor. This agrees with experiment. For the higher elements, the Pauli principle has to be taken into account and the structure of higher nuclei is discussed on this basis.