Binding nature of 102Sb

Determine whether the nucleus 102Sb, modeled as the three-body system consisting of a 100Sn core with one valence proton and one valence neutron (100Sn+p+n), is particle-bound or particle-unbound.

Background

Proton-rich nuclei around A≈100 near the N≈Z line exhibit strong Coulomb repulsion among protons, making many systems in this region particle-unbound. Counteracting this effect, attractive proton–neutron interactions can stabilize nuclei, particularly when valence protons and neutrons occupy the same orbitals.

In the specific case of 102Sb considered as 100Sn+n+p, the core–neutron subsystem 101Sn is bound with a measured one‑neutron separation energy S_n=11.2(4) MeV, whereas the core–proton subsystem 101Sb is expected to be particle‑unbound. This juxtaposition makes the overall binding character of 102Sb a critical and unresolved issue, central to benchmarking proton–neutron pairing strengths and deuteron correlations.