Exposing subtle details of the nuclear force through lifetime measurements

The lifetime of a nuclear state is related to the initial and nal wavefunctions that
define the states by the quantum mechanical Fermi's golden rule. When a nucleus
undergoes de-excitation, it typically does so through the emission of a gamma
ray.
This project aims to obtain lifetime measurements for nuclear states through de-
tection of these emitted gamma rays, particularly for proton rich nuclei. The
lifetime measurements will be made using plunger and/or fast timing techniques,
both of which are active areas of research within the nuclear department.
These lifetime measurements will be made with the intention of inferring some
information regarding the structure of the nuclei concerned. This is as proton rich
nuclei provide a method of probing weak but important aspects of the nuclear
force generally masked in regions closer to stability. One such example being the
direct measurement of effective charges of nucleons which are used to calculate
transition matrix elements in theory.