Speaker
Description
Now famous as quantum computers, ion traps were already recognized (with the 1989 Nobel Prize) as superior instruments for precision measurements, made possible by long-term observation of their stored quarry.
The use of ion traps for measuring nuclear binding energies at on-line radioactive beam facilities (first CERN-ISOLDE, later TRIUMF-ISAC) has now brought improved topographical knowledge of the nuclear chart, revealing a richness of emergent nuclear structure - yet to be explained by the quarks and gluons of quantum chromodynamics.
Defining the energy available for reactions, the nuclear binding energy plays a key role in the stellar process of rapid neutron-capture nucleosynthesis that created the heavy elements, forming the basis of ourselves and our daily life. This r process was recently observed thanks to a “heads up” detection of gravitational waves from neutron-star merger GW170817 that has ushered in the present era of multi-messenger astronomy.
Understanding neutron stars and their associated gravitational wave signal requires deriving a nuclear equation of state – which can also be achieved from the same binding-energy data. Using an equation of state, with the help of the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations derived from General Relativity, we can perform the interesting thought experiment of drilling into the crust of a neutron star to mine these same heavy elements!
Optional reading:
“The origin of the elements and other implications of gravitational wave detection for nuclear physics,” 4Open Science 3, 14 (2020)
https://doi.org/10.1051/fopen/2020014
| Your current academic level | Faculty/research staff |
|---|---|
| Your email address | david.lunney@cnrs.fr |
| Affiliation | CNRS, France |
| Supervisor name | n/a |
| Supervisor email | n/a |
