  In the shell model of nuclei, protons and neutrons move in a phenomenological
nuclear potential much in the same manner as electrons move in Coulomb based
potential in the shell model of atoms. As in the atomic case, the protons and
neutrons of certain nuclear energy levels will have a non-zero orbital angular
momentum (i.e. l =/= 0) and will therefore experience a centripetal potential
and a centripetal acceleration. We advance the hypothesis, based on
justification via the path integral formalism, that if one associates an Unruh
temperature with this quantum centripetal acceleration then there is a
potentially experimentally observable effect on certain nuclei -- the shifting
of the naive expectations of the relative occupation of the ground and lowest
lying energy levels. In particular we find that this effect should be most
prominent in Li-7 nuclei. We speculate that this effect of the Unruh
temperature might offer an answer to the Li-7 problem in Big Bang
Nucleosynthesis.
