"Mirror nuclide" N-15 and O-15 dynamics as predicted by the Brightsen Nucleon Cluster Model.
According to the classical shell model (Mayer-Jensen), the presence of "mirror nuclides" is understood as the following process: "any pair of nuclei which can be made from each other by interchanging all (emphasis added) protons and neutrons" (see O. Manuel, et al. 2003. Journal of Fusion Energy 20:197-201).
For example, consider the well known mirror nuclides, N-15 and O-15. The current shell model requires the interchange of A = 15 nucleons ! --an extremely complex dynamic.
In contrast, the Brightsen Nucleon Cluster Model predicts that the "mirror" characteristic of N-15 and O-15 can be explained by a single [N-P-N] cluster transformation in the outer "layer" of the N-15 nucleus to form the O-15 nuclide (see atomic nucleus "layer" terminology of Linus Pauling, 1965, 54(4), Proceedings National Academy Sciences). To allow for this mirror dynamic, the Brightsen Model predicts that N-15 and O-15 would have an inner core layer that consists of a three alpha (He-4) = C-12 structure. In his published Close-Packed Spheron Model, Linus Pauling suggested that the morphology of C-12 as represented by three bound He-4 clusters takes the form of a triangle (see this link for information on the Pauling Model).
Thus, instead of A =15 nucleon interactions in separate energy potential wells to explain the mirror property of N-15 and O-15 as required by the widely held shell model of Mayer and Jensen, according to the Brightsen Nucleon Cluster Model, the number of nucleon interactions is reduced to A =1 ! Thus, the mirror properties of N-15 and O-15 are clearly explained by the Brightsen Nucleon Cluster Model as a simple (but not trivial) [P-N-P] --- [N-P-N] cluster interaction in the outer layer of a C-12 core structure found in both of these nuclides (comments are welcome). This type of three nucleon cluster interaction in the outer layer of a nuclide is consistent with the predictions of the Linus Pauling Close-Packed Spheron Model.
