Probing the origins and structure of nuclei

虽然原子核非常小，但它们可以揭示巨大恒星的情况。原子核是原子的核心，比人小一千倍，就像人比地球小一千倍一样。尽管原子核的体积很小，但原子核的结构对超新星爆炸有影响，因为原子核是恒星燃烧的燃料。恒星燃烧的方式（无论是爆炸还是静止，就像我们的太阳一样）部分取决于原子核之间的相互作用。原子核太小，无法用肉眼观察，但可以通过研究伽马射线来了解它们。伽马射线是非常高能的辐射。当原子核有额外的能量时，就会释放出伽马射线。每种特定类型的原子核都会发出具有独特能量的伽马射线，就像一个签名。这种特征可以揭示原子核在恒星或实验室中的行为。我通过原子核发出的伽马射线来研究原子核。我使用了一个非常强大的伽马射线分光镜，叫做TIGRESS （TRIUMF- isac伽马射线逃逸抑制光谱仪），这是我和我的合作者在加拿大国家亚原子物理实验室（TRIUMF）建造的。TRIUMF是进行外来核研究的理想场所，因为它有一个名为ISAC（同位素分离器和加速器）的设施，能够产生世界上任何地方都可以获得的一些最强烈和最纯净的放射性核物质光束。

Although they are very small, atomic nuclei can reveal things about enormous stars.  Nuclei are the very centres of atoms, one thousand times smaller than a person as a person is smaller than the Earth.  Despite their very small size, the structure of nuclei can have an effect on supernova explosions because nuclei are the fuel that stars burn. The way that stars burn (whether they explode or stay quiescent, like our sun) depends in part on the interactions between nuclei.Nuclei are too small to look at with the naked eye, but it is possible to learn about them through the study of gamma rays.  Gamma rays are very high-energy radiation.  Nuclei emit gamma rays when they have extra energy.  Each particular type of nucleus emits gamma rays with unique energies, like a signature.  That signature can reveal how the nucleus will behave in a star or in the laboratory.  I study nuclei through the gamma-rays that they emit.  I use a very powerful gamma-ray spectroscope called TIGRESS (TRIUMF-ISAC Gamma Ray Escape-Suppressed Spectrometer) which my collaborators and I are building at Canada's national subatomic physics laboratory, TRIUMF.  TRIUMF is an ideal place to perform research into exotic nuclei because it has a facility called ISAC (Isotope Separator and ACcelerator) which is capable of producing some of the most intense and pure beams of radioactive nuclear species available anywhere in the world.