RUI: Collaboration to Enhance Participation of Minority and Undergraduate Students in Nuclear Science

Augustana College, Rock Island IL

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports a collaborative nuclear physics research program that will further our knowledge of nuclides with high ratios of neutrons to protons, which are interesting because they exhibit behavior not observed in stable nuclides. Experiments will be carried out at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) and be "day-one" ready for the upcoming Facility for Rare Isotope Beams when construction is complete. The experiments include: investigating heavy nuclei in excited states shortly before they fragment, exploring and characterizing particular states of beryllium nuclei, measuring separation energies of excited states of magnesium, as well as research and development of a new particle detector. Undergraduate and graduate students will collaborate with faculty at several US institutions to further this work and learn valuable highly technical skills. The projects will be evaluated through peer review and disseminated through presentations at national conferences, Ph.D. theses, and journal articles. The PIs of this award are members of the MoNA-LISA collaboration, and the experiments they have planned will exploit the capabilities of the equipment that was developed at NSCL by the collaboration (a modular neutron array and a large area scintillation array). Neutron-rich nuclides are very short-lived and decay by prompt neutron emission, making the MoNA-LISA system the ideal tool to investigate these nuclei. Projects include analyzing data, implementing novel techniques to identify better and resolve isomeric nuclear states, measuring neutron-unbound states in neutron-rich nuclei, characterizing pre-fragmentation dynamics after relativistic beams interact with targets, as well as research and development toward a new gas electron multiplier based segmented target. Future experiments focus on higher Z nuclides that are possible with the current experimental setup. The students will learn valuable skills utilized in all facets of research including detector construction, data collection and analysis, and dissemination.