Single-nucleon effects revealed through gamma-ray and particle spectroscopy

我们还没有完全了解是什么让一些核同位素保持稳定，而另一些则只存在了几微秒。我们还不知道恒星中的化学反应是如何产生我们今天在地球上所拥有的化学元素的。经过多年的研究，我们仍在努力寻找对核物质行为方式的完整描述。我自己帮助解开这个谜题的努力主要遵循了一种非常仔细地研究几个核同位素例子的技术。你有没有注意到，健康的人通常是房间里最温暖的人？一个人的肌肉质量越大，他们以热量的形式释放额外能量的效率就越高。球形原子核将以高能束的形式释放出多余的能量，这种高能束称为伽马射线。不是球体形状的原子核往往会通过许多较低能量的伽马射线来减少多余的能量。观察释放多余能量的原子核发出的伽马射线，让我了解它们的形状，这反过来又揭示了它们对外力的反应方式。在我的研究中，我专注于在同位素中只添加一小块原子核，称为核子，就可以极大地改变其形状和行为。通过很好地理解这几个特殊情况，我可以帮助提出更一般问题的理论家，即所有核材料如何相互作用保持正确的方向。

We do not yet have a full understanding of what makes some nuclear isotopes stable while others exist for mere microseconds. We do not yet know exactly how the reactions in stars create the chemical elements that we have on earth today. We are still, after many years of looking, trying to find a complete description of the way the stuff of nuclear matter behaves. My own efforts to help resolve this puzzle mainly follow a technique of very closely studying a few examples of nuclear isotopes. Have you ever noticed how very fit people are usually the warmest in the room? The more muscle mass a person has, the more efficient they are at shedding extra energy in the form of heat. A nucleus that is spherical will shed excess energy in the form of a high-energy bundle called a gamma ray. Nuclei that are not shaped like spheres tend to reduce their excess energy through many lower-energy gamma rays. Observing the gamma rays emitted by nuclei shedding excess energy lets me learn about their shapes, which in turn reveals the way that they will behave in response to external forces. In my research, I focus on the way that adding just one little piece of a nucleus, called a nucleon, to an isotope can dramatically change its shape and behaviour. By understanding these few special cases very well, I can help theorists who ask the more general question of how all nuclear material interacts stay pointed in the right direction.