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Nuclear Energy Valley 3D

Welcome to the Nuclear Energy Valley 3D scientific and educational documentation!

This project is an interactive, real-time 3D WebGL / Three.js simulation visualizing the nuclear specific binding energy landscape and stability surface across 3,078 isotopes of the first 94 elements (from Hydrogen to Plutonium), powered by the official IAEA / AMDC AME2020 atomic mass database.

⚛️ Launch 3D Simulator 📚 Read Physical Background 🎮 Controls & User Guide

🚀 Live on GitHub Pages

The application and documentation are published and publicly accessible at the following URLs:

What is the Nuclear Energy Valley?

Due to the attractive nature of the strong nuclear force, binding free protons and neutrons into a nucleus releases substantial binding energy (\(E_\text{bind} > 0\)). The average bound state energy per nucleon is lower than that of a free, unbound nucleon:

\[ E_\text{nucleon} = - \frac{E_\text{bind}}{A} \]

When plotted against atomic number (\(Z\)) and mass number (\(A\)), the resulting surface resembles a dramatic river valley:

  • The Summit: The free proton (\(^{1}\text{H}\)) forms the highest pinnacle (\(E_\text{bind}/A = 0\)), where no nuclear binding exists.
  • The Valley Basin: The deepest basin is occupied by iron-peak isotopes: \(^{56}_{26}\text{Fe}\) (\(8.790\text{ MeV/nucleon}\)) and nature's most tightly bound nucleus, \(^{62}_{28}\text{Ni}\) (\(8.795\text{ MeV/nucleon}\)).
  • The Driving Force: Physical systems naturally seek minimum energy configurations. Light nuclei undergo nuclear fusion, while heavy actinides undergo nuclear fission and alpha cascades to slide down into the valley floor.

Key Features

🌌 Complete AME2020 Dataset

3,078 experimentally evaluated nuclides with mass excess, binding energy per nucleon, half-life, and decay modes.

⚡ GPU InstancedMesh Rendering

All 3,078 columns render in a single WebGL draw call, delivering a steady 60 FPS with dynamic color mapping.

🎮 Unified Dual Navigation

Seamlessly combines OrbitControls mouse rotation and zooming with WASD / arrow flight traversal.

☄️ Trajectory Engine & Atom Drop

Drop any nuclide from high altitude and watch it roll down to the valley floor via physical decay chains or steepest gradient ascent.

🧪 Periodic Table Nuclide Picker

Full 18-column IUPAC grid with color-coded categories and expandable isotope drawers for quick selection.

🌐 Dual Language Support (EN / HU)

Complete bilingual support across the 3D application UI, telemetry HUD, and in-depth documentation.

Documentation Sections