Birmingham Nuclear Physics Consolidated Grant 2023

伯明翰核物理综合赠款 2023

• 批准号: ST/Y00034X/1
• 负责人: David Evans
• 金额: $ 211.48万
• 依托单位: University of Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FY00034X%2F1
• 关键词: Birmingham; Nuclear; Physics; Consolidated; Grant

Our proposed research has two broad themes that build upon our world leading areas of expertise. The first of these involves the study of high-energy nuclear collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, the world's highest energy particle accelerator. The aim of the ALICE experiment is to study nuclear matter, as it would have existed about a millionth of a second after the Big Bang when the Universe was so hot and so dense that nuclei did not exist. In its primordial state nuclear matter consists of its fundamental constituents (quarks and gluons) in a plasma state. We recreate this novel state of matter in our experiment and we are developing ways of studying these high-energy nuclear collisions to discover the properties of the quark-gluon plasma. This is technically challenging and the group has developed a sophisticated electronic trigger system that controls the experiment and is entirely responsible for it. The quark-gluon plasma has remarkable properties, such as an abundance of strange quarks and near-perfect fluidity. In this proposal, we are trying to determine whether size matters by finding the smallest drop of plasma that still retains these properties. We are using grazing collisions to explore the internal structure of nuclei at high energy. And we are looking at the debris of quarks and gluons that are sometimes scattered out of the collision, producing a shower of particles in our detector known as a jet, to study the conditions inside the plasma. We are also performing R&D into new detector technologies based on silicon pixel detectors in which the readout electronics is contained within the pixel.What happens in stars: the cooking pots of the Universe and how the structure of the nuclei involved in these reactions influences the formation of elements is at the centre of Theme 2's research portfolio. From red-giant stars which burn helium to some of the most explosive events known, such as X-ray bursts and supernovae - out-shining galaxies, albeit for a short time - the structure of nuclei play a pivotal role. The interplay between neutrons and protons within the nucleus can have a very significant impact on such astrophysical processes. One manifestation of the nuclear force is the observation of clustering in which protons and neutrons clump together inside larger nuclei, for example into alpha particles (two protons and two neutrons). The strong force is highly complex, which makes theoretical predictions formidable, so our research makes extremely precise measurements of how light nuclei interact. By detecting all the fragments of such collisions we can rebuild the nuclear system from which they originated to reveal detailed properties and also measure how quickly nuclei will combine together in stellar environments. These results can then be used to improve models of these colossal energy-release events taking place and that have led to the abundance of elements we find on earth. Finally, we are developing an experimental programme to exploit gamma-ray and neutron beams. Gamma rays allow the structure of nuclei to be probed with great precision through their electromagnetic properties. Conversely, uncharged neutrons are capable of transmuting elements even at low energies and reveal information about the most important matter-producing reactions in the Universe. This is possible due to Birmingham's new high-intensity neutron facility which is able to mimic what happens in the stars in our laboratory.

我们拟议的研究有两个广泛的主题，这些主题基于我们世界领先的专业领域。其中的第一个涉及研究世界上最高能量粒子加速器的大型强子对撞机上的高能核冲突。爱丽丝实验的目的是研究核物质，因为大爆炸之后的大约三分之一一百万秒，宇宙是如此热又密集，以至于不存在核。在其原始状态，核问题由等离子体状态的基本成分（夸克和脾气）组成。我们在实验中重新创建了这种新型物质状态，并且正在开发研究这些高能核冲突的方法，以发现夸克 - 杜伦等离子体的特性。这在技术上具有挑战性，该小组已经开发了一个控制实验的复杂电子触发系统，并且对其完全负责。 Quark-Gluon等离子体具有显着的特性，例如丰富的奇怪夸克和几乎完美的流动性。在此提案中，我们试图通过找到仍然保留这些特性的最小血浆来确定大小是否重要。我们正在使用放牧碰撞来探索高能量下核的内部结构。我们正在研究有时会散布在碰撞中的夸克和胶子的碎片，在我们的探测器中产生颗粒淋浴，以研究血浆内部的条件。我们还基于基于硅像素探测器进行研发技术，其中读取电子设备包含在像素中。恒星中发生的是什么：宇宙的烹饪罐以及参与这些反应的原子核的结构如何影响元素的形成，元素的形成是主题2研究中心的研究中心。从燃烧氦气的红色巨星到已知的一些最具爆炸性的事件，例如X射线爆发和超新星 - 闪亮的星系，尽管短时间内 - 核的结构都起着关键作用。中子和核内质子之间的相互作用可能会对此类天体物理过程产生非常重要的影响。核力量的一种表现是观察聚类，其中质子和中子在较大的核中将质子凝结在一起，例如进入α颗粒（两个质子和两个中子）。强力是高度复杂的，这使理论预测可实现，因此我们的研究对光核如何相互作用进行了极为精确的测量。通过检测所有此类碰撞的碎片，我们可以重建它们起源以揭示详细特性的核系统，并衡量核在恒星环境中将核合并在一起的速度。然后，这些结果可用于改善发生这些巨大的能源释放事件的模型，并导致我们在地球上发现的大量元素。最后，我们正在开发一个实验程序来利用伽马射线和中子束。伽马射线允许通过其电磁特性精确探测核的结构。相反，无负荷的中子即使在低能量下也能够传输元素，并揭示有关宇宙中最重要的产生物质反应的信息。由于伯明翰新的高强度中子设施，这是可能的，该设施能够模仿我们实验室中的星星中发生的事情。