ABSTRACT
In this section a brief review is given of single nucleon wave functions in a central (spherical) potential well. Only nuclear states in which there is one nucleon outside (or missing from) closed shells can be fully described by single nucleon wave functions. Other states are more complicated and will be described in subsequent sections. The importance of single nucleon wave functions lies in the fact that they are the building blocks of all shell model wave functions. In the following the basic concepts are presented for the sake of completeness and for establishing the notation. There will be no discussion of the various potential wells which are commonly used. An important exception is the harmonic oscillator potential. It is explicitly included (Section 4) because it appears in some subsequent discussions (Sections 13 and 30). It also offers a convenient opportunity to discuss the motion of the center of mass of all nucleons bound to a fixed point in space.
