Theoretical Nuclear Structure Physics

我们的计划侧重于更好地了解原子核的性质，例如为什么某些核如氦，氧，钙，铁等比它们的邻居更稳定，这些邻居只有几个核子更丰富或更贫穷，为什么像原子这样的核在“幻数”2，8，20，28等处形成“闭合壳层”，为什么类核子（质子或中子）喜欢彼此配对，而彼此配对较少，为什么有些原子核会衰变，有些不会，以及为什么大多数原子核都有变形的形状。 衍生问题与一些原子核融合（聚变）或其他原子核分裂（裂变）时释放的能量有关。 事实上，我们根本不了解原子核的组成部分--它们的夸克亚结构--或者把它们结合在一起的强力--胶子场，胶子场把三个夸克结合成核子和核子。 我们的目标是了解真实世界的原子核，了解它们的组成部分和它们之间的相互作用，这些问题既涉及宇宙起源的抽象问题，又涉及化石燃料替代品的实际问题。PI计划的基石贯穿其历史，一直是下一代科学家的教育和培训。 事实上，在过去的十年里，这个项目已经产生了八个博士学位。学生：其中两人在哥伦比亚继续从事博士后研究工作，三人在我们的一个国家实验室担任工作人员，其余三人在工业界工作。 PI目前正在指导四位博士。两名学生，两个在做论文工作的能源部的JLab在纽波特纽斯，弗吉尼亚州和另外两个仍然在路易斯安那州立大学，一个专注于“等待点”核，在核合成中发挥关键作用，另一个是所谓的“无核”壳模型计算，这是该领域的“大挑战”计算问题之一。 后者试图根据目前已知的组成部分和强相互作用来模拟真实的原子核的结构。 除了一个学生之外，所有的学生都被辅导到了博士学位。获得PI学位的人都是外国人;所有这些外国人都在美国接受了实际培训并最终长期就业。

Our program is focused on gaining a better understanding of the properties of atomic nuclei, such as why certain nuclei like helium, oxygen, calcium, iron, etc. are more stable than their neighbors that are only a few nucleons richer or poorer, why nuclei like atoms form "closed shells" at "magic numbers" 2, 8, 20, 28, etc., why like-nucleons (protons or neutrons) like to pair with each other and less with one another, why some nuclei decay and others don't, and why a majority of nuclei have a deformed shape. Derivative issues are related to the energy released when some nuclei are fused (fusion) or when others break apart (fission). Truth be known, we simply do not understand nuclei either in terms of constituent parts - their quark substructure - or the strong forces that hold them together - the gluon fields that bind sets of three quarks into nucleons and nucleons to one another. Our goal is to understand real-world nuclei in terms of their building blocks and interactions between them, which spans questions as abstract as the origin of the universe and as practical as alternatives to fossil fuels.A cornerstone of the PI's program throughout its history has been the education and training of next generation scientists. Indeed, over the last ten years this program has produced eight Ph.D. students: two are continuing their research work as postdocs in academe, three hold staff positions in one of our national labs, and the remaining three are employed in industry. The PI is currently mentoring four Ph.D. students, two doing thesis work at DOE's JLab in Newport News, Virginia and another two still at LSU, one focused on "waiting point" nuclei that play a key role in nucleosynthesis and the other is working on so-called "no-core" shell-model calculations that is one of the field's "grand challenge" computational problems. The latter attempts to model the structure of real nuclei in terms of what is currently known about the constituent parts and the strong interaction. All but one of the students mentored through to the Ph.D. degree by the PI have been foreign nationals; all be one of these foreign national found practical training and ultimately long-term employment in the US.