Research Topics in Theoretical Nuclear and Neutrino Physics

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This project will use theoretical methods to explore some of the fundamental questions at the interface of nuclear science with astrophysics and high-energy physics. These questions include where and how elements from deuterium to uranium are made in the Universe and the effect of the elementary particles called neutrinos on the production of elements and the origin of the asymmetry in the cosmic abundance of matter over antimatter in the observed Universe. This project will also examine nuclear reaction mechanisms at very low energies. This research contributes to the support of national scientific priorities in Nuclear Science, in particular to the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams under construction at the Michigan State University campus, a world-leading laboratory for the study of nuclear structure, reactions and astrophysics. The research efforts to be carried out here will also contribute to the training of next generation of scientists, enabling them to take part in a competitive workforce capable of performing in diverse settings. The sheer number of neutrinos emitted from a cooling proto-neutron star following the collapse of a supernova core necessitates inclusion of neutrino-neutrino interactions in the description of the neutrino transport in supernovae. Symmetries of the collective modes of this many-neutrino system and their impact on the rapid neutron capture nucleosynthesis in supernovae will be investigated. An unidentified emission line was recently seen in the X-ray spectrum of galaxy clusters that could be interpreted as a signal emerging from a decaying seven keV sterile neutrino, which mixes with the active ones. The investigator and his students will explore the effects of such states in reactor experiments and assess the likelihood of existence of such a state. They will explore also effects of neutrino magnetic interactions on Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, together with various ways to exploit symmetries in understanding double beta decay nuclear matrix elements. Finally, the PI will re-examine the interaction potential between two nuclei in the light of the recent experience with the effective field theory, hitherto applied only to the nucleon-nucleon interactions.