Decay Spectroscopy of Exotic Nuclei at FAIR
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Liverpool
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
It is an astonishing fact that most of the chemical elements we observe today were created from the ashes of ancient stellar explosions. The most spectacular events of this type are supernovae. With very high sensitivity modern telescopes we can study the chemical abundances of material ejected from distant supernovae and compare these abundances with those found in our own solar system. Understanding these abundances turns out to crucially depend on nuclear reaction processes. Stars can be thought of as naturally occurring nuclear reactors held together by gravity. Fortunately for us the sun is not currently in an explosive phase of development. However, most of the elements now present in the solar system were in fact produced in earlier generations of exploding stars. In this sense, we can think of ourselves as cosmic debris. The reaction processes in exploding stars are very different to those found in the sun, and involve nuclear species never seen before on our planet. Rather like chemicals that behave very differently according to their electronic shell structure - sodium is highly reactive with water but neon with one less electron is an inert gas - nuclear species can either be very stable or very reactive according to their precise composition of protons and neutrons. Reactions involving these previously unobserved nuclear species are responsible for the chemical abundances we observe today, but until now we have had no chance to study them. The new FAIR accelerator being built in Germany is the only one in the world that can produce intense, high energy beams of the heaviest naturally occurring element, Uranium. This element itself will have been produced during ancient supernova explosions in a chain of nuclear reactions scientists call the r-process in which many neutrons are rapidly absorbed by a seed nucleus! Our experiments will reverse this process, and use advanced separation and detector equipment to observe new exotic nuclear species produced
People |
ORCID iD |
Robert Page (Principal Investigator) | |
Paul Nolan (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Yokoyama R
(2023)
ß -delayed neutron emissions from N > 50 gallium isotopes
in Physical Review C
Yokoyama R
(2019)
Strong one-neutron emission from two-neutron unbound states in ß decays of the r -process nuclei Ga 86 , 87
in Physical Review C
Wright J
(2018)
Position resolution simulations for the inverted-coaxial germanium detector, SIGMA
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Whitcher R
(2014)
Evidence for age-related performance degradation of (241)Am foil sources commonly used in UK schools.
in Journal of radiological protection : official journal of the Society for Radiological Protection
Wady P
(2015)
High-spin states beyond the proton drip-line: Quasiparticle alignments in 113 Cs
in Physics Letters B
Venhart M
(2017)
Application of the Broad Energy Germanium detector: A technique for elucidating ß -decay schemes which involve daughter nuclei with very low energy excited states
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Tolosa-Delgado A
(2019)
Commissioning of the BRIKEN detector for the measurement of very exotic ß -delayed neutron emitters
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Tolosa-Delgado A
(2017)
Commissioning of the BRIKEN beta-delayed neutron detector for the study of exotic neutron-rich nuclei
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Taylor M
(2013)
A new differentially pumped plunger device to measure excited-state lifetimes in proton emitting nuclei
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Tarifeño-Saldivia A
(2017)
Conceptual design of a hybrid neutron-gamma detector for study of ß-delayed neutrons at the RIB facility of RIKEN
in Journal of Instrumentation
Tain J
(2018)
The BRIKEN Project: Extensive Measurements of $\beta $-delayed Neutron Emitters for the Astrophysical r Process
in Acta Physica Polonica B
Seliverstov M
(2013)
Charge radii of odd-A 191-211Po isotopes
in Physics Letters B
Seliverstov M
(2014)
Electromagnetic moments of odd- A Po 193 - 203 , 211 isotopes
in Physical Review C
Procter M
(2013)
Proton emission from an oblate nucleus 151Lu
in Physics Letters B
Phong VH
(2022)
ß-Delayed One and Two Neutron Emission Probabilities Southeast of ^{132}Sn and the Odd-Even Systematics in r-Process Nuclide Abundances.
in Physical review letters
Peura P
(2014)
Quasiparticle alignments and a -decay fine structure of 175 Pt
in Physical Review C
Peura P
(2014)
Erratum: Quasiparticle alignments and a -decay fine structure of 175 Pt [Phys. Rev. C 89 , 024316 (2014)]
in Physical Review C
Pakarinen J
(2014)
The SAGE spectrometer
in The European Physical Journal A
Page R
(2016)
Proton emission - new results and future prospects
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Mistry A
(2022)
The DESPEC setup for GSI and FAIR
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Mistry A
(2017)
In-beam study of 253No using the SAGE spectrometer
in The European Physical Journal A
Lund M
(2016)
Beta-delayed proton emission from 20Mg
in The European Physical Journal A
Lica R
(2016)
Fast-timing study of the l -forbidden 1 / 2 + ? 3 / 2 + M 1 transition in Sn 129
in Physical Review C
Liberati V
(2013)
ß -delayed fission and a decay of 178 Tl
in Physical Review C
Li H
(2015)
Recoil-decay tagging spectroscopy of 74 162 W 88
in Physical Review C
Description | Supernova explosions and neutron-star mergers are probable sites for the creation of the heavy elements we find on earth. Relating the processes that take place in these events to the elemental abundances we observe requires a detailed understanding of the beta-decay half-lives and neutron emission probabilities of the nuclei involved. First measurements of these properties obtained as a result of the work funded through this award are now being published and will provide input data to the theoretical modelling of these astrophysical processes. |
Exploitation Route | The results of this work will provide input data to the theoretical modelling of these astrophysical processes. |
Sectors | Education,Other |
Description | Nuclear Physics Consolidated Grant |
Amount | £2,507,085 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ST/P004598/1 |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2017 |
End | 09/2022 |
Description | Nuclear Physics Consolidated Grant |
Amount | £2,213,696 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ST/L005670/1 |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 07/2014 |
End | 09/2018 |
Description | Nuclear Physics Consolidated Grant |
Amount | £2,176,557 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ST/J000094/1 |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 07/2011 |
End | 07/2015 |
Description | AIDA |
Organisation | Daresbury Laboratory |
Department | Nuclear Physics Support Group |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Overall design specification, testing and systems integration. |
Collaborator Contribution | Intellectual contributions to this research and development project, particularly in the ASIC design. |
Impact | Development of the Advanced Implantation Detector Array (AIDA) for experimental research programmes at GSI/FAIR. |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | AIDA |
Organisation | Rutherford Appleton Laboratory |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Overall design specification, testing and systems integration. |
Collaborator Contribution | Intellectual contributions to this research and development project, particularly in the ASIC design. |
Impact | Development of the Advanced Implantation Detector Array (AIDA) for experimental research programmes at GSI/FAIR. |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | AIDA |
Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
Department | School of Physics and Astronomy |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Overall design specification, testing and systems integration. |
Collaborator Contribution | Intellectual contributions to this research and development project, particularly in the ASIC design. |
Impact | Development of the Advanced Implantation Detector Array (AIDA) for experimental research programmes at GSI/FAIR. |
Start Year | 2007 |