ABSTRACT
Proton and neutron are spin 12 fermions, with baryon number B=1. However, they possess different charges. As both of these constitute the nucleus, the author hypothesizes that they are “identical” particles or the “same” particle (commonly termed the ‘nucleon’) occurring in two forms as proton and neutron. The idea is similar to treating spin-up and spin-down as two forms of the same spin -12. One may emphasise that the mathematical group exists as an abstract entity. It turns out that the same “word” finds application in mapping another reality – the approximate isospin symmetry in nuclei. Mirror nuclei are a pair of nuclei which are obtained from each other by the exchange of the number of neutrons and protons with each other. The author demonstrates that the saturation of nuclear forces is actually a manifestation of quark degrees of freedom in nuclei.
