  We present candidates for the global minimum energy solitons of charge one to
nine in the Skyrme model, generated using sophisticated numerical algorithms.
Assuming the Skyrme model accurately represents the low energy limit of QCD,
these configurations correspond to the classical nuclear ground states of the
light elements. The solitons found are particularly symmetric, for example, the
charge seven skyrmion has icosahedral symmetry, and the shapes are shown to fit
a remarkable sequence defined by a geometric energy minimization (GEM) rule. We
also calculate the energies and sizes to within at least a few percent
accuracy. These calculations provide the basis for a future investigation of
the low energy vibrational modes of skyrmions and hence the possibility of
testing the Skyrme model against experiment.
