RUI: Study of Exotic Neutron-Rich Nuclei at Westmont College and at NSCL, MSU

该计划的主要目标是推进原子核的基本性质的理解，与本科生的参与作为一个不可分割的组成部分。 主要研究者和本科生团队将研究轻富中子原子核的结构，这些原子核在自然界中不自然存在，但必须在加速器设施中产生。 了解这些原子核对于我们进一步了解质子和中子如何在非常接近存在极限的核系统中结合在一起非常重要。 随着研究计划向更重原子核研究的进展，研究结果将为理解超新星和中子星星合并等爆炸性天体物理环境提供重要信息。 大部分研究将在韦斯特蒙学院进行，包括对学生进行仪器和数据分析技术的培训和使用，以及在密歇根州立大学的国家超导回旋加速器实验室进行，学生在那里参加最先进的核物理实验。 实验中使用的主要仪器包括模块化中子阵列（莫纳）和大面积多机构闪烁体阵列（丽莎），这两种仪器都是由来自莫纳合作的几个机构的本科生建造和测试的。 除了科学目标，该计划的一个重要目标是为参与的本科生提供变革性的研究经验，这些经验可以对他们未来的学习和职业生涯产生积极的影响。 该奖项支持的研究直接解决了当今推动核科学领域的一些主要问题。 丰中子核的基态和激发态的性质将使用模块化中子阵列（莫纳）、大型多机构闪烁体阵列（丽莎）和扫掠器磁体及其相关的带电粒子探测器套件进行研究，所有这些都位于密歇根州立大学的国家超导回旋加速器实验室。 该计划的目标包括10 He基态共振能量的决定性测量，26 O基态寿命的精确测量，24 O激发态的2-中子级联衰变的分析，以及在洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室的LANSCE设施的莫纳探测器棒中子散射的系统研究。 这项研究计划将有助于推进核结构远离稳定性的知识，包括更好地了解滴线附近的富中子核，中子晕系统以及包括多中子衰变和2-中子放射性在内的奇异形式的核衰变。

The main goal of this program is to advance the understanding of the fundamental nature of atomic nuclei, with undergraduate student participation as an integral component. The principle investigator and team of undergraduate students will investigate the structure of light neutron-rich atomic nuclei that do not exist naturally in nature but must be produced at an accelerator facility. Understanding these nuclei is important for advancing our understanding of how the protons and the neutrons bind together in nuclear systems that are very near the limits of existence. As the research program advances to the study of heavier nuclei, results will provide important information for the understanding of explosive astrophysical environments such as supernovae and neutron star mergers. Much of the research will be conducted at Westmont College, which includes student training in and the use of instrumentation and data analysis techniques, and at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University, where students participate in state-of-the-art nuclear physics experiments. Major instrumentation used in experiments include the Modular Neutron Array (MoNA) and the Large-area multi-Institutional Scintillator Array (LISA), both constructed and tested by undergraduate students from several institutions in the MoNA collaboration. In addition to the science goals, an important goal of this program is to provide transformational research experiences for the participating undergraduate students that can have a positive influence on decisions they make for future study and careers in physics. The research supported by this award addresses directly some of the main questions driving the field of nuclear science today. Properties of ground and excited states of neutron-rich nuclei will be investigated using the Modular Neutron Array (MoNA), the Large multi-Institutional Scintillator Array (LISA), and the Sweeper Magnet and its associated suite of charged particle detectors, all located at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. Goals of the program include a conclusive measurement of the 10He ground state resonance energy, precise measurement of the 26O ground state lifetime, analysis of the 2-neutron cascade decay of excited states of 24O, and a systematic study of neutron scattering in the MoNA detector bars at the LANSCE facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. This research program will help advance knowledge of nuclear structure far from stability, including better understanding of neutron-rich nuclei near the dripline, neutron halo systems, and exotic forms of nuclear decay including multiple neutron decays and 2-neutron radioactivity.