Strong Interactions in Nuclear Physics

自然界中的粒子有两种基本形式：费米子(可以说是“孤立的”实体)和玻色子(其中许多粒子可以组合在一起)。费米子构成了物质的所有基本成分，如电子、质子、中子，甚至夸克。因此，可以合理地说，核物理学研究的是费米子。核子(一个用来描述质子或中子的术语)不仅组成原子内部的原子核，而且还独立出现在被称为中子星的密集天体中(即原子核外部)。 复合粒子(即由其他粒子组成的粒子)可以是费米子，也可以是玻色子。在过去十年的原子实验中，锂和钾原子通常被用来探索强相互作用体系的基本性质。一个这样的例子是对超流性(没有粘性流动)的研究。这些原子系统类似于存在于被称为中子星的致密天体中的稀薄中子物质，主要不同之处在于原子可以在实验室中直接研究，而中子星只接受天文观测。反过来，中子物质又与含有比质子多得多的中子的原子核相连，质子是加拿大和国外许多大型实验设施积极研究的主题。 这项研究项目使用现代超级计算机上的高性能理论技术来阐明中子星、原子核和超冷原子的行为。

Particles in nature come in two fundamental varieties: fermions (which, it may be said, are "solitary" entities) and bosons (many of which can group together). Fermions make up all the basic ingredients of matter, such as electrons, protons, neutrons, and even quarks. Thus, it can be reasonably said that nuclear physics deals with fermions. Nucleons (a term used to describe either protons or neutrons) not only make up the nuclei inside of atoms, but also appear on their own (i.e. outside nuclei) in the dense astrophysical objects known as neutron stars. Composite particles (i.e. ones that are made up of other particles) can be either fermions or bosons. In atomic experiments over the last decade lithium and potassium atoms are routinely used to probe fundamental properties of strongly interacting systems. One such example is the study of superfluidity (the absence of viscous flow). These atomic systems are similar to the dilute neutron matter present inside the compact objects known as "neutron stars", the main difference being that atoms can be directly studies in the lab whereas neutrons stars are only subject to astronomical observation. In its turn, neutron matter is connected to nuclei that contain considerably more neutrons than protons, which are a subject of active study in a number of large experimental facilities in Canada and abroad. This research project uses high-performance theoretical techniques on modern supercomputers to elucidate the behavior of neutron stars, nuclei, and ultracold atoms.