Laser spectroscopic determination of new forms of nuclear matter in the trans-lead nuclei.

在核物理学科中，存在着几个关键的开放性问题，包括核存在的极限，新形式的物质是否存在于松散束缚的原子核中，以及在这些极端情况下量子系统的顺序是如何变化的。只有通过直接研究在粒子发射方面不稳定的外来核，才能提供这些问题的答案。在8He、11Li和14Be等轻核中弥散晕结构的发现，是令整个核学界感到惊讶的核结构的一个例子。这些令人难以置信的系统，只有几个核子，具有弥散结构，其大小与自然界中已知的一些最重的原子核（如238U）相当。有了一项新技术，在灵敏度上有了很大的提高，这个奖学金有了独特的机会在以前被描述为“未知领域”的核图表区域进行测量。这样的测量为发现新的结构现象提供了诱人的可能性，从而开始为核物理学中目前悬而未决的问题提供答案。这项研究将通过研究轨道原子电子，明确地测量特定的核观测值，这些观测值可以在不调用核模型的情况下提取出来。虽然经常被认为可以忽略不计，但原子核和原子电子之间的相互作用是有限的，大约比原子内量子能级的能量间隔小1亿倍。这种微小的影响完全在现代激光技术的范围内，它可以以前所未有的万亿分之一的分辨率进行测量！这一建议将精确地测量外来放射性同位素中外层原子电子的能量变化，并由此提取出几个关键的核观测值；磁矩和电矩，核态角动量和原子核平均电荷半径的变化。这些观测结果提供了大量关于物质分布和原子核内量子水平如何排序的信息。因此，这一提议将成为英国核物理研究战略的重要组成部分，首次提供了对可能存在新形式物质的奇异核的测量。

In the subject of Nuclear Physics there exists several key open questions, these include the limits of nuclear existence, whether new forms of matter are present in loosely bound nuclei and how does the ordering of the quantum system change at these extremes. It is only possible to provide answers to these questions by directly studying exotic nuclei that are unstable with respect particle emission. The discovery of a diffuse halo structure in light nuclei such as 8He, 11Li and 14Be, is one example of nuclear structure that surprised the entire nuclear community. These incredibly systems, with just a few nucleons have a diffuse structure that is comparable in size to some of the heaviest nuclei known in nature such as 238U. With a new technique that offers a vast improvement in sensitivity, this fellowship has the unique opportunity to make measurements in a region of the nuclear chart previously described as 'terra incognito'. Such measurements offer the tantalizing possibility of discovering new structural phenomena and thereby begin to provide answers to the current open questions in Nuclear Physics. This fellowship will unambiguously measure specific nuclear observables, which can be extracted without invoking nuclear models, by studying the orbital atomic electron. Although often quoted as negligible there is a finite interaction between the nucleus and the atomic electrons, which is approximately a hundred million times smaller than the energy spacing of quantum levels within the atom. Such small effects are well within the scope of modern laser technology, which can perform measurements with an unprecedented resolution of one part in a thousand billion! This proposal will accurately measure the change in energy of the outer atomic electron in exotic radioactive isotopes and by doing so extract several key nuclear observables; the magnetic and electric moments, the angular momentum of the nuclear state and the change in the average charge radius of nucleus. These observables provide a wealth of information on the distribution of matter and how the quantum levels are ordered within the nucleus. This proposal will therefore be a significant part of the UK strategy in nuclear physics research providing for the first time, measurements on exotic nuclei where new forms of matter may exist.