Concept of the Intrinsic State

The problem of collective nuclear rotations is discussed in terms of a kinematic transformation to an intrinsic body-fixed coordinate system. Some results are obtained that are equivalent to the classical case. By use of approximate projection operators, an algorithm for calculating successively higher terms in the expansion of the rotational parameter ($\frac{1}{2}$ the inverse inertial moment) is developed. The first-order term is just the Skyrme formula, with the proviso that it be evaluated with respect to the "nonrotational" part of the Hamiltonian.