Nuclear, Particle, and Weak Interaction Physics of the Big Bang and Stellar Collapse

大爆炸和恒星塌缩的核、粒子和弱相互作用物理学

• 批准号: 9800980
• 负责人: George Fuller
• 金额: $ 27万
• 依托单位: University of California-San Diego
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1998
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1998-07-01 至 2001-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9800980&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Nuclear; Particle; Weak; Interaction; Physics

Some properties (e.g., rest masses) of the mysterious neutrinos remain elusive. Discovery of these properties may well represent new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics and could give us insights into the evolution of the universe. In part, little is known about these particles because they interact so weakly that conventional laboratory experiments are rarely definitive. Serendipidously, however, neutrinos and neutrino interactions with matter may play a dominant role in the synthesis of the light nuclei in the early universe and in the synthesis of the heavy nuclei in supernova explosions. To the extent that we can understand the nuclear physics of these astrophysical environments, we may be able to employ them (that is, their observed nucleosynthesis products) as neutrino physics "laboratories." Conversely, new experimental insights into the properties of the neutrinos may allow us a better understanding of how nuclei were made in our universe. This remains, afterall, a central problem of nuclear physics. The work proposed here aims to exploit the symbiosis between neutrino physics and the nucleosynthesis of the light and heavy nuclei. The goal of this work will be to make progress in understanding each of these issues.

一些属性（例如，静止质量）的神秘中微子仍然难以捉摸。 这些性质的发现很可能代表了超越粒子物理学标准模型的新物理学，并可能使我们深入了解宇宙的演化。 在某种程度上，人们对这些粒子知之甚少，因为它们之间的相互作用非常微弱，以至于传统的实验室实验很少有明确的结果。然而，中微子和中微子与物质的相互作用可能在早期宇宙中轻核的合成和超新星爆炸中重核的合成中起着主导作用。只要我们能够理解这些天体物理环境中的核物理，就有可能把它们（即它们观测到的核合成产物）用作中微子物理的“实验室”。“相反，对中微子性质的新实验见解可能使我们更好地了解原子核是如何在我们的宇宙中形成的。 毕竟，这仍然是核物理学的一个中心问题。 这里提出的工作旨在利用中微子物理和轻、重核的核合成之间的共生关系。 这项工作的目标是在理解这些问题方面取得进展。