TY - JOUR AU - Dr. Walid Nabil PY - 2026 DA - 2026/09/08 TI - Atomic Atrophy Hypothesis for Inducing an Implosive Nuclear Structural Collapse with an Ultra-High Attractive Effect: Selective Removal of a Critical Neutron from the Symmetric Backbone Configuration of a Highly Cohesive Atomic Nucleus JO - Japan Journal of Research VL - 7 IS - 6 AB - This study proposes a theoretical framework for investigating the response of atomic nuclei to extreme structural perturbations through the hypothesis of a Critical Nucleon, defined as a nucleon whose contribution to the collective structural stability of the nucleus is greater than that of the remaining nucleons. The proposed framework suggests that the removal of such a nucleon may, under specific structural conditions, trigger a collective reorganization of the nuclear structure that differs qualitatively from conventional nuclear responses. To examine this hypothesis, the study introduces a new theoretical quantity termed the Structural Cohesion Function (Φ) as an indicator of the structural contribution of individual nucleons to nuclear stability. A mathematical framework consisting of axioms, definitions, and preliminary propositions is developed to relate neutron separation energy and collective nuclear structure. The study further proposes the existence of a Critical Structural Threshold, beyond which the nucleus undergoes a structural phase transition into a different collective configuration. Several theoretical predictions are presented together with a validation roadmap based on nuclear shell-model calculations, mean-field approaches, and advanced numerical simulations. In addition, the study discusses an exploratory phenomenological framework for describing possible consequences of such structural transitions, emphasizing that these extensions go beyond established nuclear physics and should be regarded as speculative hypotheses requiring verification through computational modeling and future experimental investigation. The proposed framework is intended as a falsifiable research program that introduces new structural descriptors for nuclear stability and provides a basis for further theoretical and computational studies in nuclear physics SN - 2690-8077 UR - https://dx.doi.org/10.33425/2690-8077.1248 DO - 10.33425/2690-8077.1248