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Equation 36 · Part 2 · The Valley of Stability Is a Fitness Landscape

Symbol A^-1/2

2 aPA−1/22\,a_P A^{-1/2}
A−1/2A^{-1/2}

What this part means

A−A^-1/2 is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.

Its job in the formula

A−A^-1/2 is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.

The passage around this formula

…side). For even A , the pairing term splits the curve into two parabolas — one for even-even nuclei sitting lower in mass (more bound), one for odd-odd nuclei sitting higher — offset from each other by roughly 2\,aPa_P A−1/2A^{-1/2} . This is the double-parabola structure behind one of the chart’s more striking features: a modest number of even mass numbers host two, and even three, beta-stable even-even isobars side by side, because an odd-odd nucleus between them would have to climb over the even-even parabola’s…

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Learn the underlying idea

An exponent tells how a base is used in multiplication. In x³, x is the base and 3 is the exponent: x³ = x × x × x.

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Sources cited in the surrounding passage

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