A general theory, based on central limit theorems and unitary-group decompositions of the microscopic $H$, is given for the nuclear level density. The density appears in terms of convolutions of noninteracting-particle densities with easily calculable interaction functions given explicitly in terms of the Hamiltonian matrix elements.

• Received 29 August 1983

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.51.2183