RUI: High Impact Nuclear Physics Research with Undergraduates

RUI：本科生高影响核物理研究

• 批准号: 1613188
• 负责人: Paul DeYoung
• 金额: $ 25.19万
• 依托单位: Hope College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-06-01 至 2020-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1613188&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Impact; Nuclear; Physics; Research

It is a well-known fact that light, stable nuclei, those with which we are most familiar, are made up of roughly equal numbers of protons and neutrons. This project will explore the structure of neutron-rich nuclei that are far from stability and consequently much less familiar. This will provide a vital understanding of the subtleties of the nuclear force in nuclei that can be found in explosive astrophysical environments, such as a supernova. These experiments will help us to understand the different abundances of the observed elements in the universe, in addition to engaging students in the study of these fundamental questions. In addition, the applied nuclear physics efforts at Hope College will use traditional accelerator techniques for the rapid testing of consumer goods and environmental samples containing chemicals of concern. Work on non-destructive characterization of automotive paint samples for forensic applications will continue. Experiments producing unstable nuclei at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab (NSCL) (excited states of helium-9 and oxygen-26) will measure decay neutrons with the Modular Neutron Array, while emitted charged fragments are deflected with a high-field dipole magnet into timing and energy detectors. The properties of the decaying nucleus will be determined with invariant mass spectroscopy. Astrophysics measurements will also be done at the NSCL with the Summing NaI Detector supplemented with an internal beta detector or an internal gas cell constructed at Hope College. The interdisciplinary applied physics portion of the proposed research, done with the Hope accelerator, is principally based on particle induced gamma-ray emission, particle induced x-ray emission, and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy.

众所周知，轻而稳定的原子核，也就是我们最熟悉的原子核，是由大致相等数量的质子和中子组成的。这个项目将探索丰中子核的结构，这些原子核远不稳定，因此也不太为人所知。这将对原子核中核力的微妙之处提供至关重要的理解，这些核力可以在爆炸性的天体物理环境中找到，例如超新星。这些实验将帮助我们了解宇宙中观察到的元素的不同丰度，并让学生参与到这些基本问题的研究中。此外，霍普学院的应用核物理研究将使用传统的加速器技术，对消费品和含有令人担忧的化学物质的环境样本进行快速测试。用于法医应用的汽车涂料样品的无损表征工作将继续进行。在国家超导回旋实验室(NSCL)产生不稳定核(氦-9和氧-26的激发态)的实验将用模块化中子阵列测量衰变中子，而发射的带电碎片则用高场偶极磁铁偏转到定时和能量探测器。衰变核的性质将用不变质谱学来确定。天体物理学测量也将在NSCL进行，使用相加NaI探测器和内部贝塔探测器或在霍普学院建造的内部气体室。这项由霍普加速器完成的跨学科应用物理研究主要基于粒子诱发的伽马射线发射、粒子诱发的X射线发射和卢瑟福背散射光谱。