Nuclear Structure and Reactions: Theory and Experiment
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Surrey
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
Nuclear physics research is undergoing a transformation. For a hundred years, atomic nuclei have been probed by collisions between stable beams and stable targets, with just a small number of radioactive isotopes being available. Now, building on steady progress over the past 20 years, it is at last becoming possible to generate intense beams of a wide range of short-lived isotopes, so-called 'radioactive beams'. This enables us vastly to expand the scope of experimental nuclear research. For example, it is now realistic to plan to study in the laboratory a range of nuclear reactions that take place in exploding stars. Thereby, we will be able to understand how the chemical elements that we find on Earth were formed and distributed through the Universe. At the core of our experimental research is our strong participation at leading European radioactive-beam facilities: FAIR at GSI, Darmstadt, Germany; SPIRAL at GANIL, Caen, France; and ISOLDE at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland. While we are now contributing, or planning to contribute, to substantial technical developments at these facilities, the present grant request is focused on the exploitation of the capabilities that are now becoming available. To achieve our physics objectives, we also need to use other facilities, including stable-isotope accelerators, since these can provide complementary capabilities. Experimental progress is intimately linked with theory, where novel and practical approaches are a hallmark of the Surrey group. A key and unique feature (within the UK) of our group is our blend of theoretical and experimental capability. Our science goals are aligned with current STFC strategy for nuclear physics, as expressed in detail through the Nuclear Physics Advisory Panel. We wish to understand the boundaries of nuclear existence, i.e. the limiting conditions that enable neutrons and protons to bind together to form nuclei. Under such conditions, the nuclear system is in a delicate state and shows unusual phenomena. It is very sensitive to the properties of the nuclear force. For example, weakly bound neutrons can orbit their parent nucleus at remarkably large distances. This is already known, and our group made key contributions to this knowledge. What is unknown is whether, and to what extent, the neutrons and protons can show different collective behaviours. Also unknown, for most elements, is how many neutrons can bind to a given number of protons. It is features such as these that determine how stars explode. So, we need a more sophisticated understanding of the nuclear force, and we need experimental information about nuclei with unusual combinations of neutrons and protons to test our theoretical ideas and models. Therefore, theory and experiment go hand-in-hand as we push forward towards the nuclear limits. An overview of nuclear binding reveals that about one half of predicted nuclei have never been observed, and the vast majority of this unknown territory involves nuclei with an excess of neutrons. The focus of our activity addresses this 'neutron-rich' territory, exploiting the new capabilities with radioactive beams. Our principal motivation is the basic science, and we contribute strongly to the world sum of knowledge and understanding. Nevertheless, there are more-tangible benefits. For example, our radiation-detector advances can be incorporated in medical diagnosis and treatment. In addition, we provide an excellent training environment for our research students and staff, many of whom go on to work in the nuclear power industry, helping to fill the current skills gap. On a more adventurous note, our special interest in nuclear isomers (energy traps) could lead to novel energy applications. Furthermore, we have a keen interest in sharing our specialist knowledge with a wide audience, and we already have an enviable track record with the media.
Organisations
Publications
Cáceres L
(2012)
In-beam spectroscopic studies of the 44 S nucleus
in Physical Review C
Mason P
(2012)
Half-life of the I p = 4 - intruder state in 34 P: M 2 transition strengths approaching the island of inversion
in Physical Review C
Banu A
(2012)
One-proton breakup of 24 Si and the 23 Al( p , ? ) 24 Si reaction in type I x-ray bursts
in Physical Review C
Reed M
(2012)
Long-lived isomers in neutron-rich Z = 72 -76 nuclides
in Physical Review C
Jiao C
(2012)
Competition between collective oblate rotation and non-collective prolate K isomerism in neutron-rich tungsten isotopes
in Science China Physics, Mechanics and Astronomy
Simpson E
(2012)
Projectile deformation effects on single-nucleon removal reactions
in Physical Review C
Wimmer K
(2012)
Probing elastic and inelastic breakup contributions to intermediate-energy two-proton removal reactions
in Physical Review C
Al-Dahan N
(2012)
Multiple ß - decaying states in 194 Re: Shape evolution in neutron-rich osmium isotopes
in Physical Review C
Nara Singh B
(2012)
Influence of the n p interaction on the ß decay of 94 Pd
in Physical Review C
Mason P
(2013)
Half-life of the yrast 2 + state in 188 W: Evolution of deformation and collectivity in neutron-rich tungsten isotopes
in Physical Review C
Timofeyuk N
(2013)
Nonlocality in the adiabatic model of A ( d , p ) B reactions
in Physical Review C
Watanabe H
(2013)
Isomers in Pd 128 and Pd 126 : Evidence for a Robust Shell Closure at the Neutron Magic Number 82 in Exotic Palladium Isotopes
in Physical Review Letters
Gottardo A
(2013)
New µs isomers in the neutron-rich 210 Hg nucleus
in Physics Letters B
Shubina D
(2013)
Schottky mass measurements of heavy neutron-rich nuclides in the element range 70 = Z = 79 at the GSI Experimental Storage Ring
in Physical Review C
Capel P
(2013)
The ratio method: A new tool to study one-neutron halo nuclei
in Physical Review C
Timofeyuk NK
(2013)
Nonlocality in deuteron stripping reactions.
in Physical review letters
Pang D
(2013)
Rapid convergence of the Weinberg expansion of the deuteron stripping amplitude
in Physical Review C
Cunningham E
(2013)
Effect of spin-spin interactions on nucleon-nucleus scattering
in Physical Review C
Pérez-Cerdán A
(2013)
Deformation of Sr and Rb isotopes close to the N = Z line via ß -decay studies using the total absorption technique
in Physical Review C
Tostevin J
(2013)
Two-proton removal from 44 S and the structure of 42 Si
in Physical Review C
Nakhostin M
(2013)
A new digital method for high precision neutron-gamma discrimination with liquid scintillation detectors
in Journal of Instrumentation
Walker P
(2013)
The ILIMA project at FAIR
in International Journal of Mass Spectrometry
Lalkovski S
(2013)
Core-coupled states and split proton-neutron quasiparticle multiplets in 122 - 126 Ag
in Physical Review C
Kievsky A
(2013)
Efimov Spectrum in Bosonic Systems with Increasing Number of Particles
in Few-Body Systems
Cipollone A
(2013)
Isotopic chains around oxygen from evolved chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions.
in Physical review letters
Xu F
(2013)
New Studies on the Aspects of Nuclear Shapes
in Acta Physica Polonica B
Somà V
(2013)
Ab initio Gorkov-Green's function calculations of open-shell nuclei
in Physical Review C
Modamio V
(2013)
Lifetime measurements in neutron-rich 63 , 65 Co isotopes using the AGATA demonstrator
in Physical Review C
Régis J
(2013)
The generalized centroid difference method for picosecond sensitive determination of lifetimes of nuclear excited states using large fast-timing arrays
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Roberts O
(2013)
Half-life Measurements of Excited States in <sup><span class="cmr-7">132</span></sup>Te, <sup><span class="cmr-7">134</span></sup>Xe
in Acta Physica Polonica B
Chen L
(2013)
Direct observation of long-lived isomers in 212Bi.
in Physical review letters
Britton R
(2013)
Improving the effectiveness of a low-energy Compton suppression system
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Caesar C
(2013)
Beyond the neutron drip line: The unbound oxygen isotopes 25 O and 26 O
in Physical Review C
Bowry M
(2013)
Population of high-spin isomeric states following fragmentation of 238 U
in Physical Review C
Nakhostin M
(2013)
Use of commercial operational amplifiers in a low cost multi-channel preamplifier system
in Radiation Physics and Chemistry
Morales A
(2013)
ß -delayed ? -ray spectroscopy of 203 , 204 Au and 200 - 202 Pt
in Physical Review C
Bunce M
(2013)
High-spin study of the shell model nucleus 88 Y 49
in Physical Review C
Davies PJ
(2013)
Mirror energy differences at large isospin studied through direct two-nucleon knockout.
in Physical review letters
Britton R
(2013)
Monte-Carlo based background reduction and shielding optimisation for a large hyper-pure germanium detector
in Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry
Carbone A
(2013)
Self-consistent Green's functions formalism with three-body interactions
in Physical Review C
Nakhostin M
(2013)
Charged particle response of transmission diamond detectors
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Denis Bacelar A
(2013)
The population of metastable states as a probe of relativistic-energy fragmentation reactions
in Physics Letters B
Rios A
(2013)
Self-consistent Green's functions calculation of the nucleon mean-free path
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Litvinov Y
(2013)
Nuclear physics experiments with ion storage rings
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Pardi C
(2013)
Continuum time-dependent Hartree-Fock method for giant resonances in spherical nuclei
in Physical Review C
Nakhostin M
(2013)
Application of pulse-shape discrimination to coplanar CdZnTe detectors
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Carbone A
(2013)
Symmetric nuclear matter with chiral three-nucleon forces in the self-consistent Green's functions approach
in Physical Review C
| Description | We have advanced the following areas: understanding the limits of the nuclear landscape, especially the neutron-rich limits; understanding and exploiting the reactions needed to reach the limits; studying and understanding novel structures observed on approaching the limits; engaging fully with the international community of nuclear physicists; disseminating results through leading journals and conferences; providing excellent training. |
| Exploitation Route | The main beneficiaries of this work will be the national and international nuclear physics communities. In addition, the expected results on shell structure and isomeric states will also be of significant interest to the nuclear-astrophysics and isomer-application communities. We have an active involvement and information exchange with both these nuclear structure 'user' communities. The isomer work also links closely to the atomic physics community, in particular through the study of highly charged ions stored in rings and traps. Our theoretical methods will be of interest to the condensed-matter community, especially in relation to pairing condensates. The work on detector development has wide potential applications for medical diagnosis and treatment. The research will also provide manpower trained to a high level (PhDs and PDRAs with a deep understanding of radiation physics and sensor technologies) who may subsequently be employed in many different areas, such as national security, the nuclear power industries, environmental monitoring and control, and medical physics. |
| Sectors | Education Energy Environment Healthcare Security and Diplomacy |
| Description | No specific non-academic impact has yet become material. |