Nuclear Seminar

A new view of nuclear structure through unstable nuclei - Seeking the path to the origin of our existence -

Dr. Rituparna Kanungo
TRIUMF, Vancouver, Canada

Monday, March 20, 2006   4:00 p.m.   NSH 124
(Refreshments served prior to seminar in NSH 124)

 

The radioactive ion beams have opened the doorway to reach out to nuclei far from the valley of stability, called unstable nuclei. The heavy element synthesis largely proceeds through these unstable nuclei. Exploring the structure of the unstable nuclei thus has immense importance in understanding the element synthesis in our universe and cosmic objects such as the neutron star. It will be shown that structure studies of unstable nuclei are rapidly changing our traditional nuclear physics concepts, leading to a more global view of nuclear structure. The discussion will focus on changes of single-particle orbitals and changes in shell closures far from stability line. The structure of light neutron-rich nuclei with some examples discussing halo formation and associated anomalies in the sd-shell will be presented. On the proton-rich side of the nuclear chart the discussion will focus on a search for two-proton halo. Besides the knowledge on ground state properties of unstable nuclei, excited states also play important role in nucleosynthesis. In this context, the measurement of lifetime for the 4 MeV excited state in 19Ne will be touched upon. As a consequence of halo structure it will be discussed that new excitation modes also appear in unstable nuclei.