GSI Storage Ring Experiment E055/R048 Travel Grant

这项拟议中的研究将允许卡伦博士参加德国GSI的一项国际实验。这是一项由英国领导的实验，将产生以前从未研究过的原子核。这些重要的原子核参与了构成我们宇宙的元素的天体物理学生产，这个实验提供了一个独特的机会来研究它们。实验选择这些原子核是因为这些独特的原子核状态具有极长的寿命。由于原子核是强相互作用粒子的量子力学系综，任何激发态的寿命通常为1皮秒或更短。在这个提议中研究的原子核是独特的，因为它们的激发态的寿命从纳秒到小时不等，比典型的原子核状态长3 - 12个数量级。除了从理论的角度来看对这些特殊的核状态的真正的基本兴趣之外，这些核影响了我们宇宙的产生。自然界中重元素的产生都是在星星生命的最后几年发生的天体物理核过程中进行的。这些重核元素（在这项工作中研究）是在核反应中形成的，其中存在一个微妙的平衡，一个特定的核需要足够长的时间来结合另一个中子，然后通过β衰变衰变走向稳定。由于自然界中的这些反应已经通过了这个长寿命状态的区域，因此这种平衡被打破，一些原子核现在将活得足够长，以捕获另一个中子，形成更重的原子核。如果没有这些独特的长寿命状态，自然界中存在的一些重同位素和我们体内的重同位素就不会形成。这项研究资助将使卡伦博士能够首次获得研究这些独特细胞核的数据。

The proposed research will allow Dr. Cullen to take part in an international experiment at GSI in Germany. This is a UK-led experiment which will produce nuclei which have never been studied before. These important nuclei are involved in the astrophysical production of the elements that make up our Universe and this experiment gives a unique opportunity to study them. The experiment selects these nuclei due to the exceedingly long-lived nature of these unique nuclear states. As nuclei are a quantum-mechanical ensemble of strongly-interacting particles, the lifetimes of any excited states are generally of the order of 1 pico-second or shorter. The nuclei studied in this proposal are unique in that their excited states have lifetimes which range from nano-seconds to hours; some 3 - 12 orders of magnitude longer than typical nuclear states. Apart from the genuine fundamental interest in these particular nuclear states from a theoretical point of view, these nuclei have affected the production of our Universe. The production of the heavy elements in nature have all been made in astrophysical nuclear processes that took place in the last years of a star's life. These heavy nuclear elements (studied in this work) were formed in nuclear reactions where a delicate balance exists where a particular nucleus needs to live long enough to bind another neutron before it decays towards stability by beta decay. Since these reactions in nature have passed through this region of long-lived states, the delecate balance is upset and some of the nuclei will now live long enough to capture another neutron to form the heavier nuclei. Without these unique long-lived states, some of the heavy isotopes which exist in nature and are found in our bodies, would not have been formed. This research grant will allow Dr. Cullen to gain data to study these unique nuclei for the first time.