RUI: Supporting New Efforts in Studies of Neutron-Rich Nuclides

本科生的研究经验对于他们的专业发展和进入成功的职业生涯或研究生院至关重要。奥古斯塔纳学院（位于伊利诺伊州罗克岛的一个小型的本科生文科机构）的核物理组提供了一个积极的研究计划，让本科生参与独特的实验和设备开发。这项本科院校研究奖将支持本科生和主要研究人员，包括支持前往密歇根州立大学（MSU）的国家超导回旋加速器实验室（NSCL），与其他人合作探索核结构，分析数据，在中子滴线处或附近的奇异核系统的实验是约束现代理论模型的必要条件。中子滴线附近的核素可以以未结合中子的状态产生，这意味着在核素形成后不久从核素发射中子。此外，中子发射后留下的带电碎片可能处于束缚激发态，导致伽马射线发射。由PI和合作者开发的一种称为带电粒子探测器望远镜（CPDT）的设备提供了探测带电碎片的长寿命中子非束缚态或短寿命束缚激发态的能力。该设备由MRI NSF资助。实验研究13 Be和28 O（通过28 F）与有效的检测伽马射线将使用CPDT进行。中子将由MoNA-LISA（模块化中子阵列和大面积多机构闪烁体阵列）探测。这些核素将利用NSCL的独特能力生产。该项目的研究涉及分析和传播以前和新实验中有关中子未束缚核系统的结果。未来的实验将建议在密歇根州立大学正在建设的稀有同位素束设施（FRIB）进行，重点是更高Z的核素，这将需要提高对CPDT的理解，以确定实验装置所需的任何升级。这个项目将进一步我们目前的理解，使用的能力，NSCL设施走向FRIB的富中子核素。PI将让本科生参与研究计划的各个方面。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Research experience for undergraduate students is vital for their professional development and entrance into a successful career or graduate school. The nuclear physics group at Augustana College (a small, undergraduate-only, liberal arts institution located in Rock Island, Illinois) provides an active research program that involves undergraduate students in unique experiments and equipment development. This Research in Undergraduate Institutions award will support undergraduate students and the primary investigator, including support to travel to the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University (MSU), to collaborate with others on experiments that explore nuclear structure, analyze data, and publish research results.Experiments on exotic nuclear systems at or near the neutron drip-line are necessary to constrain modern theoretical models. Nuclides near the neutron drip-line may be produced in states that are neutron-unbound, which means that a neutron is emitted from a nuclide shortly after the nuclide is formed. In addition, the charged fragment left over after neutron emission may be in a bound excited state resulting in gamma-ray emission. A device developed by the PI and collaborators called the charged particle detector telescope (CPDT) provides the ability to detect long-lived neutron-unbound states or short-lived bound excited states of the charged fragment. The device was funded by an MRI NSF grant. Experiments studying 13Be and 28O (via 28F) with efficient detection of gamma-rays will be performed using the CPDT. Neutrons will be detected by the MoNA-LISA (Modular Neutron Array and the Large-area multi-Institutional Scintillator Array). The nuclides will be produced using the unique capabilities of NSCL. The research in this project involves analyzing and disseminating results about neutron-unbound nuclear systems from prior and new experiments. Future experiments will be proposed for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), under construction at MSU, focusing on higher Z nuclides, which will require improved understanding of the CPDT to determine any upgrades needed for to the experiment setup. This project will further our current understanding of neutron-rich nuclides using the capabilities of the NSCL facility moving toward FRIB. The PI will involve undergraduate students in all aspects of the research program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.