Nuclear science in general relies on a solid knowledge of the structure of atomic nuclei. Nuclear structure is intimately related to the field of nuclear astrophysics. While nuclear structure data and theory is essential to gain better understanding of stellar processes and the abundances of elements and isotopes in the universe, astrophysical observations often set limits to structural approaches. Our goal is to gain a comprehensive theory to describe all nuclei. Present theories are vastly improving, however, the nuclear many-body problem is not yet fully understood. Theories, on all levels between full microscopic to geometrical treatments, need experimental benchmarks in order to provide reliable predictions for limits of nuclear existence, nucleo-genesis, and fundamental studies such as neutrino-less double-beta decay. The Yale group makes use of a large pool of facilities and techniques to study collective phenomena in nuclei, to reveal their underlying microscopic structure, and to derive theoretical interpretations. Our recent work encompasses the measurement of electro-magnetic properties of nuclei, and gamma-ray spectroscopy at the limits of accessibility in exotic nuclei with extreme neutron/proton ratios, and more general many-body aspects like quantum phase transitions in the structure of nuclei.
Friday, April 12, 2013
1PM, SPL 63
PIZZA!