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
Regan P
(2015)
Precision measurement of sub-nanosecond lifetimes of excited nuclear states using fast-timing coincidences with LaBr3(Ce) detectors
in Radiation Physics and Chemistry
Godbeer AD
(2015)
Modelling proton tunnelling in the adenine-thymine base pair.
in Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP
Jolie J
(2015)
Test of the SO(6) selection rule in 196Pt using cold-neutron capture
in Nuclear Physics A
Browne F
(2015)
Gamma-ray Spectroscopy in the Vicinity of $^{108}$Zr
in Acta Physica Polonica B
Johnson R
(2015)
Erratum: Spin dependence of the incident channel distorted wave in the theory of the A ( d , p ) B reaction [Phys. Rev. C 91 , 054604 (2015)]
in Physical Review C
Wilson E
(2015)
Core excitations across the neutron shell gap in 207Tl
in Physics Letters B
Mcfadden Johnjoe
(2015)
Good Vibrations
in SCIENTIST
Jones K
(2015)
Recent Direct Reaction Experimental Studies with Radioactive Tin Beams
in Acta Physica Polonica B
Sethi J
(2015)
Spectroscopy of the Low-lying States Near the High Spin Isomer in $^{108}$Ag
in Acta Physica Polonica B
Alharbi T
(2015)
Lifetime of the yrast I p = 5 - state and E 1 hindrance in the transitional nucleus Ce 58 136
in Physical Review C
Najem M
(2015)
Neutron production from flattening filter free high energy medical linac: A Monte Carlo study
in Radiation Physics and Chemistry
Shand C
(2015)
Structure of $^{207}$Pb Populated in $^{208}$Pb + $^{208}$Pb Deep-inelastic Collisions
in Acta Physica Polonica B
Collins SM
(2015)
Direct measurement of the half-life of (223)Ra.
in Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine
Straumal B
(2015)
Amorphization of Nd-Fe-B alloy under the action of high-pressure torsion
in Materials Letters
Matta A
(2015)
New findings on structure and production of He 10 from Li 11 with the ( d , He 3 ) reaction
in Physical Review C
Johnson R
(2015)
Spin dependence of the incident channel distorted wave in the theory of the A ( d , p ) B reaction
in Physical Review C
Timofeyuk N
(2015)
Widths of low-lying nucleon resonances in light nuclei in the source-term approach
in Physical Review C
Morales A
(2015)
First measurement of the ß -decay half-life of 206 Au
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Britton R
(2015)
Coincidence corrections for a multi-detector gamma spectrometer
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Pain S
(2015)
Constraint of the Astrophysical Al 26 g ( p , ? ) Si 27 Destruction Rate at Stellar Temperatures
in Physical Review Letters
Tain JL
(2015)
Enhanced ?-Ray Emission from Neutron Unbound States Populated in ß Decay.
in Physical review letters
Fernández-DomÃnguez B
(2015)
Spectroscopic study of the exotic nucleus P 25
in Physical Review C
Rios A
(2015)
Covariance analysis of finite temperature density functional theory: symmetric nuclear matter
in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics
Akber A
(2015)
Increased isomeric lifetime of hydrogen-like Os 192 m
in Physical Review C
Rosenbusch M
(2015)
Probing the N=32 Shell Closure below the Magic Proton Number Z=20: Mass Measurements of the Exotic Isotopes ^{52,53}K.
in Physical review letters
Stevenson P
(2015)
Shapes and Dynamics from the Time-Dependent Mean Field
Benstead J
(2014)
Calculations of Compound Nucleus Spin-parity Distributions Populated via the (p,t) Reaction in Support of Surrogate Reaction Measurements
in Nuclear Data Sheets
Crawford H
(2014)
Shell and shape evolution at N = 28 : The Mg 40 ground state
in Physical Review C
Muto S
(2014)
Magnetic properties of Hf 177 and Hf 180 in the strong-coupling deformed model
in Physical Review C
Algora A
(2014)
Total Absorption Study of Beta Decays Relevant for Nuclear Applications and Nuclear Structure
in Nuclear Data Sheets
Stevenson P
(2014)
Isoscalar and Isovector Giant Monopole Resonances from a Continuum Hartree-Fock Method
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Sethi J
(2014)
Study of the level structure of 108 Ag
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Kucuk Y
(2014)
Intermediate-energy four-body breakup calculations for C 22
in Physical Review C
Timofeyuk N
(2014)
Overlap functions for reaction theories: challenges and open problems
in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics
Gottardo A
(2014)
New Isomers in the Neutron-Rich Region Beyond 208 Pb
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Morales A
(2014)
ß -decay studies of neutron-rich Tl, Pb, and Bi isotopes
in Physical Review C
Rahaman A
(2014)
Study of Ground State Wave-function of the Neutron-rich 29,30 Na Isotopes through Coulomb Breakup
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Wimmer K
(2014)
Elastic breakup cross sections of well-bound nucleons
in Physical Review C
Chakraborty S
(2014)
Ground-state configuration of neutron-rich Aluminum isotopes through Coulomb Breakup
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Minkov N
(2014)
Influence of the octupole mode on nuclear high- K isomeric properties
in Physica Scripta
Godbeer A
(2014)
Environment-induced dephasing versus von Neumann measurements in proton tunneling
in Physical Review A
Sellahewa R
(2014)
Isovector properties of the Gogny interaction
Tostevin J
(2014)
Systematics of intermediate-energy single-nucleon removal cross sections
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. |