Birmingham Nuclear Physics Consolidated Grant 2016

伯明翰核物理综合补助金 2016

• 批准号: ST/P004199/1
• 负责人: Peter Jones
• 金额: $ 198.22万
• 依托单位: University of Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2017 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FP004199%2F1
• 关键词: Birmingham; Nuclear; Physics; Consolidated; Grant

Our proposed research has three broad themes that build upon our world leading areas of expertise. The first of these involves the study of high-energy nuclear collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, the world's highest energy particle accelerator. The aim of the ALICE experiment is to study nuclear matter, as it would have existed about a millionth of a second after the Big Bang when the Universe was so hot and so dense that nuclei did not exist. In its primordial state nuclear matter consists of its fundamental constituents (quarks and gluons) in a plasma state. We recreate this novel state of matter in our experiment and we are developing ways of studying these high-energy nuclear collisions to discover the properties of the quark-gluon plasma. This is technically challenging and the group has developed a sophisticated electronic trigger system that controls the experiment. The quark-gluon plasma has remarkable properties, such as an abundance of strange quarks and near-perfect fluidity. In this proposal, we are trying to determine whether size matters by finding the smallest drop of plasma that still retains these properties. We are using grazing collisions to explore the internal structure of nuclei at high energy. And we are looking at the debris of quarks and gluons that are sometimes scattered out of the collision, producing a shower of particles in our detector known as a jet, to study the conditions inside the plasma. We are also performing R&D into new detector technologies based on silicon pixel detectors in which the readout electronics is contained within the pixel. The second strand extends beyond the quark scale to the scale of nuclei. Here the challenge is to understand how the nature of the strong interaction plays out on the nuclear, rather than the sub-nucleon scale. Here the strong force is highly complex, which is manifest in correlations. These can be pairing correlations or correlations of higher order, which results in the formation of alpha-particle clusters. The geometric arrangement of clusters produces dynamical symmetries, which in turn gives a fingerprint of quantum mechanical states. The work performed by the Birmingham group has indicated the presence of a triangular arrangement of alpha particles in 12C. We propose to extend the techniques and ideas to a study of 16O that is predicted to be strongly influenced by a tetrahedral structure. What happens to alpha-particle clustering as particles are either added or removed from the cluster cores is extremely important as this is intimately connected with the structure of nuclei at the drip-lines. We will be studying a number of systems that will provide a deeper insight into phenomena such as nuclear molecules. Finally, we plan to develop an experimental programme to exploit gamma-ray beams to probe with great precision the structure of clustered nuclei via their electromagnetic properties. To-date this tool has provided us with some of the best insights into the structure of light nuclei and we plan to extend these studies to exotic cluster states above the cluster decay threshold. This programme will produce measurements to constrain state-of-the-art theory.This grant also recognises the importance of applying nuclear physics knowledge through a variety of applications. In the field of energy production using both nuclear fission and fusion there is a need for more precise measurements of a variety of nuclear reactions. We plan to use the University of Birmingham's MC40 cyclotron for nuclear data studies. Moreover, the cyclotron may be used to create a high radiation environment that mimics either reactor or decommissioning environments. We will develop a facility that will be used to test instrumentation and detection systems for use in such environments.

我们拟议的研究具有三个广泛的主题，这些主题基于我们世界领先的专业领域。其中的第一个涉及研究世界上最高能量粒子加速器的大型强子对撞机上的高能核冲突。爱丽丝实验的目的是研究核物质，因为大爆炸之后的大约三分之一一百万秒，宇宙是如此热又密集，以至于不存在核。在其原始状态，核问题由等离子体状态的基本成分（夸克和脾气）组成。我们在实验中重新创建了这种新型物质状态，并且正在开发研究这些高能核冲突的方法，以发现夸克 - 杜伦等离子体的特性。这在技术上具有挑战性，该小组开发了控制实验的复杂电子触发系统。 Quark-Gluon等离子体具有显着的特性，例如丰富的奇怪夸克和几乎完美的流动性。在此提案中，我们试图通过找到仍然保留这些特性的最小血浆来确定大小是否重要。我们正在使用放牧碰撞来探索高能量下核的内部结构。我们正在研究有时会散布在碰撞中的夸克和胶子的碎片，在我们的探测器中产生颗粒淋浴，以研究血浆内部的条件。我们还基于基于硅像素检测器进行研发技术，其中读出电子设备包含在像素中。第二链延伸到Quark量表到核的尺度。在这里，挑战是了解强烈相互作用的性质如何在核上发挥作用，而不是亚核量表。在这里，强力是高度复杂的，这在相关性中表现出来。这些可以是配对的相关性或更高级的相关性，这导致形成α粒子簇。簇的几何布置产生动力对称性，从而产生量子机械状态的指纹。伯明翰组进行的工作表明，在12c中存在α颗粒的三角形布置。我们建议将技术和思想扩展到对16o的研究，该研究预计会受到四面体结构的强烈影响。 α-粒子聚类的发生，因为颗粒是从簇芯中添加或去除的，非常重要，因为这与滴水线处的核结构密切相关。我们将研究许多系统，这些系统将为核分子等现象提供更深入的见解。最后，我们计划开发一个实验程序，以利用伽马射线光束来精确地探测簇核通过其电磁特性的结构。到期之日起，此工具为我们提供了一些对光核结构的最佳见解，我们计划将这些研究扩展到簇衰减阈值以上的异国群集状态。该计划将产生限制最新理论的测量。该赠款还认识到通过各种应用应用核物理知识的重要性。在使用核裂变和融合的能源生产领域中，需要对各种核反应进行更精确的测量。我们计划将伯明翰大学的MC40回旋子用于核数据研究。此外，回旋子可用于创建一个高辐射环境，该环境模仿反应堆或退役环境。我们将开发一个设施，该设施将用于测试在这种环境中使用的仪器和检测系统。