Multi-Phonon Vibrations in 180Os.

This grant application is aimed at understanding the way in which angular momentum is built up in nuclei. Everyone, from young childern to adults, is familiar with the way a spinning top or gyroscope manages to stay upright as long as the top continues to spin. The spin of the system, or angular momentum, introduces extra stability to the top which allows it to overcome gravity as long as the top remains spining. As soon as the top stops spinning it falls over as gravity is no longer counteracted by the angular momentum. Spin is also a fundamental property of the microscopic world of atoms and nuclei. The research addressed by this proposal has shown, for the first time, that it is possible to generate high nuclear spin values by multiple vibrations of the nuclear shape rather than just spinning it faster and faster in the conventional way. For a spinning top, the equivalent motion would be a top which stays upright by increasing and decreasing its radius (oscillating between a fatter- and a thinner-top) instead of rotating. This grant will allow us to fully understand this exciting new behaviour in nuclei which was first observed by our research group. The funding will permit us to undertake an approved experiment on the world's most sensitive equipment and discuss the results with the top nuclear-structure theorists in the world. The grant will ensure that the UK continues to lead this international research and disseminate the research findings, initially at an international conference and later in the published literature.