New approaches to the study of shape coexistence

在曼彻斯特大学的欧内斯特·卢瑟福爵士发现原子核100年后，对于物质的核心仍有许多有待研究的地方。核能的前景广阔，有300种稳定同位素和3000种已知的放射性同位素。核模型预测，还有同样多的核尚未被发现。这些模型也被用来预测最奇特的原子核的许多性质，这些性质超出了实验室研究的范围。这些原子核在我们所知的宇宙中物质形成的恒星过程中非常重要。然而，模型之间往往不一致，它们的预测必须用实验证据来证明。特别有趣的是原子核的形状，因为它的观测与提取数据时使用的模型无关。在本研究计划中，我们将研究汞、铅、钋和氡周围重同位素的形状共存现象，其中球形和变形形状在低能下相互竞争。为了收集所需的信息，我们将在国际稀有离子束设施（如CERN-ISOLDE）进行实验。对钋和氡的外来同位素的基态和激发态性质的研究将突出感兴趣的特征。最后，将利用海德堡测试存储环（TSR）设施进行新实验技术的技术发展，以便将其植入CERN-ISOLDE。

100 years after the discovery of the atomic nucleus by Sir Ernest Rutherford at the University of Manchester, much is still left to research on the heart of matter. The nuclear landscape is vast, with 300 stable isotopes and 3000 known radioactive isotopes. Nuclear models predict that about as many are yet to be discovered. Those models are also used to predict the many properties of the most exotic nuclei, out of reach of the laboratory studies. Those nuclei are of great importance in stellar processes responsible for the creation of matter as we know it in the universe. However, models often disagree with one another and their predictions have to be asserted with experimental evidence. Of particular interest is the shape of the nucleus as its observation is independent of the model used in extracting the data. In this research proposal, we shall investigate the phenomenon of shape coexistence in the heavy isotopes around mercury, lead, polonium, and radon, where spherical and deformed shapes compete with one another at low energy. In order to gather the required information, we shall perform experiments at international rare ion beam facilities such as CERN-ISOLDE. The study of ground- and excited-state properties in exotic isotopes of polonium and radon shall highlight features of interest. Finally, technical developments towards new experimental techniques will be made with the Heidelberg Test Storage Ring (TSR) facility, for its implantation at CERN-ISOLDE.