A new, simplified, interpolation method for estimation of microscopic nuclear masses based on the p‐factor, P=NPNN/(Np+Nn)

A new semi‐empirical method, based on the use of the P‐factor (P=NpNn/(Np+Nn)), is shown to simplify significantly the systematics of atomic masses. Its uses is illustrated for actinide nuclei where complicated patterns of mass systematics seen in traditional plots versus Z, N, or isospin are consolidated and transformed into linear ones extending over long isotopic and isotonic sequences. The linearization of the systematics by this procedure provides a simple basis for mass prediction. For many unmeasured nuclei beyond the known mass surface, the P‐factor method operates by interpolation among data for known nuclei rather than by extrapolation, as is common in other mass models.