An upper limit of ground-state energy fluctuations in nuclear masses

Shell model calculations are employed to estimate an upper limit of statistical fluctuations in the nuclear ground-state energies. In order to mimic the presence of quantum chaos associated with neutron resonances at energies between 6 and 10 MeV, calculations include random interactions in the upper shells. The upper bound for the energy fluctuations at mid-shell is shown to have the form σ(A)∼20 A-1.34 MeV. This estimate is consistent with the mass errors found in large-shell model calculations along the N=126 line, and with local mass error estimated using the Garvey-Kelson relations, all being smaller than 100 keV. It agrees in both size and functional form with the fluctuations deduced independently from second-order perturbation theory