Nuclear Physics at the Extremes: Theory & Experiment
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Surrey
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
For a hundred years, atomic nuclei have been probed more or less exclusively by studying collisions between stable beams and stable targets. This restricted the nuclei that could be studied to just a just a small fraction of those that are thought to exist. Most of the nuclei important to making all of the elements (in various stellar processes) have for example been inaccessible to experiment. The major thrust in nuclear physics worldwide, and a key priority in the UK's programme, is to reach out and study these exotic nuclei by using beams produced from short-lived radioactive isotopes. This in turn reveals that nuclear structure is not always like it seems to be for the stable nuclei, and nuclei are found to have surprising trends in stability and to have different shapes that will affect reaction rates inside stars and supernovae. At Surrey we take these UK priorities and the new opportunities very much to heart, and we seek out and lead programmes at the world's best facilities for making these radioactive beams. To make the beams is difficult and the facilities - as well as the research effort - are international in scale. Surrey builds and runs innovative experimental equipment at these facilities. The present grant request is focused on the exploitation of these capabilities at the best laboratories.
Experimental progress is intimately linked with theory, and the development of novel and better theoretical approaches are a hallmark of the Surrey group. An outstanding feature of the group as a whole, which is key to our research plans and acknowledged as a rare and valuable strength, is our powerful 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's road map. 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. It is unknown whether, and to what extent, the neutrons and protons can show different collective behaviour or even how many neutrons can bind to a given number of protons. It is features such as these that determine how stars explode. To tackle these problems, we need a more sophisticated understanding of the nuclear force, we need more powerful theories that can build this understanding into the calculations, and we need experimental information about nuclei with unusual numbers of neutrons relative to protons so that we can test our theoretical ideas. 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. Much of our activity addresses this "neutron rich" territory, exploiting the new capabilities made possible with radioactive beams and exploiting advances in computational power and analytical theories to bring superior new theoretical tools to bear on the latest observations.
Our principal motivation is the basic science and the STFC "big questions", and we contribute strongly to the world sum of knowledge and understanding. The radiation-detector advances that our work drives can be incorporated in medical diagnosis and treatment and in environmental management. We engage strongly with the National Physical Laboratory on these topics. 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. Furthermore, we have a keen interest in sharing our specialist knowledge with a wide audience, and actively pursue a public engagement agenda.
Experimental progress is intimately linked with theory, and the development of novel and better theoretical approaches are a hallmark of the Surrey group. An outstanding feature of the group as a whole, which is key to our research plans and acknowledged as a rare and valuable strength, is our powerful 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's road map. 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. It is unknown whether, and to what extent, the neutrons and protons can show different collective behaviour or even how many neutrons can bind to a given number of protons. It is features such as these that determine how stars explode. To tackle these problems, we need a more sophisticated understanding of the nuclear force, we need more powerful theories that can build this understanding into the calculations, and we need experimental information about nuclei with unusual numbers of neutrons relative to protons so that we can test our theoretical ideas. 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. Much of our activity addresses this "neutron rich" territory, exploiting the new capabilities made possible with radioactive beams and exploiting advances in computational power and analytical theories to bring superior new theoretical tools to bear on the latest observations.
Our principal motivation is the basic science and the STFC "big questions", and we contribute strongly to the world sum of knowledge and understanding. The radiation-detector advances that our work drives can be incorporated in medical diagnosis and treatment and in environmental management. We engage strongly with the National Physical Laboratory on these topics. 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. Furthermore, we have a keen interest in sharing our specialist knowledge with a wide audience, and actively pursue a public engagement agenda.
Planned Impact
The proposed research will benefit end users in the nuclear industry, such as AWE, National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), the Environment Agency, BAE systems, Public Heath England and radiation detection instrumentation manufacturers such as Kromek, Canberra and ORTEC, through trained manpower (PhDs, PDRAs and graduates from the two Surrey MSc programmes on Medical Physics and Radiation and Environmental Protection) as well as the carefully measured and evaluated nuclear decay and structure data provided by the group. The Surrey group's formal links with the NPL Radioactivity Group as part of the wider NPL-Surrey partnership provide the ideal bridge to facilitate this. The Surrey/NPL link is crucial to the STFC funded UK Nuclear Data Network and provides a direct link to the UK Nuclear Science Forum (UKNSF), which is responsible for the industrial end users of nuclear data within the UK. Additional links with major end users of nuclear data include work with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Nuclear medicine clinics worldwide measure the radioactivity content of radiopharmaceuticals, such as radium, immediately prior to administration (for patient safety and regulatory compliance). Beneficiaries of our research will therefore also be the 3000 (and growing) nuclear medicine clinics worldwide. The group's work in this field will contribute towards improved safety and effectiveness of treatment for hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide undergoing cancer therapy. It will also enable a major pharmaceutical company to meet regulatory requirements, and proceed with clinical trials on further alpha-particle emitting radiopharmaceuticals.
The many varied public engagement activities of the group will benefit wider society, whether it be schools, the media, policy makers or the wider public. The group will continue to contribute to the dissemination of expert knowledge and advice when science stories aligned with its research are in the news by talking to journalists in both the written and broadcast media and being prepared to be interviewed in the press, as they have done successfully for a number of years.
Through the various outreach activities to schools, science festivals, articles in the popular press, popular science books and television and radio programmes, the group will aim to 'inspire, enlighten and enthuse' not only the next generation of scientists and engineers, but those to whom the young turn for academic and career advice, such as parents and teachers.
Members of the group will provide expert advice on issues relating to this research and the wider area of nuclear and radiation physics and nuclear safety, to government committees and policy makers to ensure that, on such sensitive and often complex topics, policies are evidence based and founded on the most accurate available scientific knowledge.
Nuclear medicine clinics worldwide measure the radioactivity content of radiopharmaceuticals, such as radium, immediately prior to administration (for patient safety and regulatory compliance). Beneficiaries of our research will therefore also be the 3000 (and growing) nuclear medicine clinics worldwide. The group's work in this field will contribute towards improved safety and effectiveness of treatment for hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide undergoing cancer therapy. It will also enable a major pharmaceutical company to meet regulatory requirements, and proceed with clinical trials on further alpha-particle emitting radiopharmaceuticals.
The many varied public engagement activities of the group will benefit wider society, whether it be schools, the media, policy makers or the wider public. The group will continue to contribute to the dissemination of expert knowledge and advice when science stories aligned with its research are in the news by talking to journalists in both the written and broadcast media and being prepared to be interviewed in the press, as they have done successfully for a number of years.
Through the various outreach activities to schools, science festivals, articles in the popular press, popular science books and television and radio programmes, the group will aim to 'inspire, enlighten and enthuse' not only the next generation of scientists and engineers, but those to whom the young turn for academic and career advice, such as parents and teachers.
Members of the group will provide expert advice on issues relating to this research and the wider area of nuclear and radiation physics and nuclear safety, to government committees and policy makers to ensure that, on such sensitive and often complex topics, policies are evidence based and founded on the most accurate available scientific knowledge.
Organisations
Publications
Collins SM
(2022)
Half-life determination of 155Tb from mass-separated samples produced at CERN-MEDICIS.
in Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine
Mukai M
(2022)
Ground-state ß -decay spectroscopy of Ta 187
in Physical Review C
Rios A
(2020)
Green's Function Techniques for Infinite Nuclear Systems
in Frontiers in Physics
Barbieri C
(2022)
Gorkov algebraic diagrammatic construction formalism at third order
in Physical Review C
Barbieri C
(2021)
Gorkov algebraic diagrammatic construction formalism at third order
Cryer-Jenkins EA
(2020)
Gamow's cyclist: a new look at relativistic measurements for a binocular observer.
in Proceedings. Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Cryer-Jenkins E
(2019)
Gamow's Cyclist: A New Look at Relativistic Measurements for a Binocular Observer
Bender M
(2020)
Future of nuclear fission theory
in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics
Bender M
(2020)
Future of Nuclear Fission Theory
Li G
(2020)
Fusion reaction studies for the Be 9 + Y 89 system at above-barrier energies
in Physical Review C
Qiang Y
(2021)
Fission dynamics of compound nuclei: Pairing versus fluctuations
in Physical Review C
Wu J
(2022)
First observation of isomeric states in Zr 111 , Nb 113 , and Mo 115
in Physical Review C
Häfner G
(2021)
First lifetime investigations of N > 82 iodine isotopes: The quest for collectivity
in Physical Review C
Tang TL
(2020)
First Exploration of Neutron Shell Structure below Lead and beyond N=126.
in Physical review letters
Watanabe Y
(2021)
First direct observation of isomeric decay in neutron-rich odd-odd Ta 186
in Physical Review C
Caballero-Folch R
(2018)
First determination of ß -delayed multiple neutron emission beyond A = 100 through direct neutron measurement: The P 2 n value of Sb 136
in Physical Review C
Li HF
(2022)
First Application of Mass Measurements with the Rare-RI Ring Reveals the Solar r-Process Abundance Trend at A=122 and A=123.
in Physical review letters
Kievsky A
(2020)
Few bosons to many bosons inside the unitary window: A transition between universal and nonuniversal behavior
in Physical Review A
Rudigier M
(2020)
FATIMA - FAst TIMing Array for DESPEC at FAIR
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Gamba E
(2019)
Fast-timing measurements in the ground-state band of Pd 114
in Physical Review C
Revel A
(2020)
Extending the Southern Shore of the Island of Inversion to F 28
in Physical Review Letters
Gade A
(2022)
Exploiting dissipative reactions to perform in-beam ? -ray spectroscopy of the neutron-deficient isotopes Ca 38 , 39
in Physical Review C
Guadilla V
(2017)
Experimental study of Tc 100 ß decay with total absorption ? -ray spectroscopy
in Physical Review C
Spieker M
(2019)
Experimental identification of the T = 1 , J p = 6 + state of Co 54 and isospin symmetry in A = 54 studied via one-nucleon knockout reactions
in Physical Review C
Mougeot M
(2020)
Examining the N = 28 shell closure through high-precision mass measurements of Ar 46 - 48
in Physical Review C
Bertulani C
(2021)
Examination of the sensitivity of quasifree reactions to details of the bound-state overlap functions
in Physical Review C
MacGregor P
(2021)
Evolution of single-particle structure near the N = 20 island of inversion
in Physical Review C
Wiederhold J
(2019)
Evolution of E 2 strength in the rare-earth isotopes Hf 174 , 176 , 178 , 180
in Physical Review C
Ralet D
(2019)
Evidence of octupole-phonons at high spin in 207Pb
in Physics Letters B
Goodwin MA
(2022)
Enhancing the detection sensitivity of a high-resolution ß - ? coincidence spectrometer.
in Journal of environmental radioactivity
Dinmore M
(2019)
Effects of an induced three-body force in the incident channel of ( d , p ) reactions
in Physical Review C
Lin H
(2020)
Dynamics of one-dimensional correlated nuclear systems within non-equilibrium Green's function theory
in Annals of Physics
McIlroy C
(2018)
Doubly magic nuclei from lattice QCD forces at M PS = 469 MeV / c 2
in Physical Review C
Petrache C
(2019)
Diversity of shapes and rotations in the ?-soft 130Ba nucleus: First observation of a t-band in the A = 130 mass region
in Physics Letters B
Gade A
(2022)
Dissipative Reactions with Intermediate-Energy Beams: A Novel Approach to Populate Complex-Structure States in Rare Isotopes.
in Physical review letters
Wen K
(2019)
Dissipation Dynamics of Nuclear Fusion Reactions
in Acta Physica Polonica B
Wimmer K
(2019)
Discovery of 68Br in secondary reactions of radioactive beams
in Physics Letters B
Heine M
(2022)
Direct Measurement of Carbon Fusion at Astrophysical Energies with Gamma-Particle Coincidences
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Nakhostin M
(2019)
Digital discrimination of neutrons and ? -rays in liquid scintillation detectors by using low sampling frequency ADCs
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Guadilla V
(2020)
Determination of ß -decay ground state feeding of nuclei of importance for reactor applications
in Physical Review C
Collins SM
(2022)
Determination of the 161Tb half-life.
in Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine
Gandhi R
(2022)
Determination of Co 57 ( n , x p ) cross sections using the surrogate reaction ratio method
in Physical Review C
Vockerodt T
(2019)
Describing heavy-ion fusion with quantum coupled-channels wave-packet dynamics
in Physical Review C
Ota S
(2020)
Decay properties of 22Ne + a resonances and their impact on s-process nucleosynthesis
in Physics Letters B