Laser Spectroscopy of Radioactive Isotopes

In this PhD project, the nuclear structure of exotic isotopes will be investigated using the technique of laser spectroscopy. Experimental results will be obtained at international particle accelerator laboratories, including JYFL in Finland and TRIUMF in Canada, where the radioactive isotopes will be produced in nuclear reactions for immediate study. The student will develop and execute such experimental techniques as appropriate. Programming skills will be required for data analysis. The results will reveal several nuclear observables, such as the changing nuclear size and shape along an isotope chain, and the magnetic moments and nuclear spin angular momenta which reveal the behaviour of individual nucleons inside. This will constitute an original contribution to the field of nuclear physics and will lead to results which are publishable in reputable academic journals.

The precise focus of research will be left flexible, depending on the results of exploratory tests, but will likely be, for example:
(1) The behaviour of nuclear radii from element to element for N=Z isotopes, and a comparison between ground/isomeric states with zero and non-zero nuclear spin.
(2) The mean-square charge radius of 54Ti, due to be proposed at TRIUMF, which corresponds to N=32. This has been proposed as a new magic number, but surprisingly yielded an enlarged radius in the nearby calcium chain.