Spectroscopy of exotic nuclei

The project will investigate the properties of nuclei that lie far from the line of maximum beta stability.

The student will work on the experimental research programme using the ISOLDE Solenoidal Spectrometer (ISS) and Miniball gamma-ray spectrometer at ISOLDE, and gamma-ray spectrometers at TRIUMF. The ISOLDE experiments will use post-accelerated beams of radioactive ions provided by HIE-ISOLDE.

The ISS will measure the energies of light ions produced in transfer and inelastic scattering reactions in order to probe the properties of the states that are populated in the exotic nuclei, while complementary experiments using Miniball with measure gamma rays emitted following Coulomb excitation.

The student will actively participate in the experimental programme at ISOLDE and it is intended that the student will analyse data from an ISOLDE experiment as part of their thesis.

It is also intended that the student will also undertake the analysis of a related decay-spectroscopy data set obtained from the radioactive ion beam facility TRIUMF.

The student will have opportunities to participate in experiments at other nuclear physics facilities in order to broaden their experience.

While the data analysis and interpretation will be primarily performed at Liverpool, the experimental work will be conducted at international accelerator laboratories and exploit state-of-the-art spectrometer systems.

As part of their training and research on this project, the student would benefit from a Long Term Attachment at either CERN or TRIUMF.