Nucleon deformation in finite nuclei Original Research Article

The deformation of a nucleon embedded in various finite nuclei is considered by taking into account the distortion of the chiral profile functions under the action of an external field representing the nuclear density. The baryon-charge distribution of the nucleon inside light, medium-heavy and heavy nuclei is discussed. The mass of the nucleon decreases as it is placed deeper inside the nucleus and reaches its minimum at the center of the nucleus. We discuss the quantization of nonspherical solitons and its consequences for the mass splitting of the Δ states. We show that bound nucleons acquire an intrinsic quadrupole moment due to the deformation effects. These effects are maximal for densities of nuclei about ρ(R)∼0.3–0.35ρ(0). We also point out that scale changes of the electromagnetic radii can not simply be described by an overall swelling factor.