Study of Nuclear Forces and Shell Evolution through Spectroscopy of Neutron-Rich Light Nuclei
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"Study of Nuclear Forces and Shell Evolution through Spectrosopy of Neutron-Rich Light Nuclei" Texas A&M University, College Station PI: Gregory Christian Light, neutron rich nuclei are ideal laboratories for studying the quantum many-body problem and the details of the nucleon-nucleon interaction. Many neutron-rich nuclei display incredible sensitivity to effects such as many-body forces, neutron-proton correlations, and coupling to the continuum. Furthermore, nuclei with mass number below roughly twelve are accessible to ab-initio theoretical calculations, which solve the complete nuclear many-body problem from first principles. Such calculations are continually pushed to their limits when attempting to describe the most neutron-rich nuclei. As a result, high-quality experimental data on the spectroscopic and decay properties of these neutron-rich nuclei are essential in order for the theories to be improved. This research project will address the broad question of the structure of neutron-rich, light nuclei by using direct reactions to study three key systems: the tetraneutron, 4n, 11Be, and 12Be. The project will be performed at the Texas A&M University Cyclotron Institute, using primary and secondary rare-isotope beams accelerated by the K500 superconducting cyclotron. The beams will impinge on gaseous targets of 4He and 2H atoms, populating states in the nuclei of interest. The momenta of the outgoing reaction products will be measured using advanced detectors such as the MDM magnetic spectrometer or the recently-commissioned Texas Active Target detector. From these measured momenta, properties such as the energy, angular momentum, and population cross section of states in the nuclei of interest will be extracted. These experimental quantities will be compared with theoretical calculations to better understand the detailed structure of these nuclei. Furthermore, these data will provide valuable comparison points for ab initio theorists as they continue to refine and develop their theories.
