Research in Low Energy Nuclear Physics

Suny At Stony Brook, Stony Brook NY

Investigators

Abstract

The Stony Brook Superconducting Linear Accelerator provides heavy ion beams for basic research in nuclear and atomic physics, and an infrastructure for the recruitment, development and training of students in the areas of radiation detection, hardware development and experimental analysis. The planned research with the accelerator and at other facilities will build upon the activities currently in progress, and will continue the educational program of current and new PhD and other students. The research program in gamma ray spectroscopy will investigate several areas of nuclear structure including two projects that were started at Stony Brook and are now very active areas of research. The first studies the fingerprints of chirality, which involves the existence of right-handed and left-handed geometries in certain special nuclei, and the second project studies the limit of how much angular momentum a nucleus can carry. Another research project uses the unique capability of our LINAC to provide intense Fr beams of 107 particles/sec. The effort will focus on polarizing, cooling and trapping of Fr for precision measurements of the nuclear magnetic moments that are needed to test the atomic calculations of the Fr atom. The Fr beams will also be used to continue the development of weak interaction measurements in atoms. The Stony Brook Nuclear Structure Laboratory also serves as a focus of many educational activities. Students at the high school, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels participate in the research program with various intensities, from beam line construction to running actual experiments. In addition to these students, high school students, incoming students, and various classes tour the laboratory as an example of an accelerator research facility.