= Syllable nucleus
A <syllable nucleus> is the central constituent around which a <syllable> is organized. It is commonly a <vowel>, but a <syllabic consonant> can fill that role. The term describes organization in <phonology>, rather than a requirement that every nucleus have one particular articulatory mechanism.<Essentials of Linguistics (2nd edition) by Catherine Anderson and others>[§3.10, nucleus and syllabic consonants]{ref}
In a simple pronunciation of “cat”, `[æ]` is the <syllable nucleus>, between the <syllable onset> `[k]` and <syllable coda> `[t]`. A vowel-only <syllable> can have a nucleus without either margin. Finding the loudest sample in a recording does not define its nucleus: acoustic amplitude, duration and abstract constituency are different descriptions of <speech>.
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