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Research at
SHIP concentrates on the synthesis and investigation of superheavy
nuclei and of very neutron-deficient heavy isotopes.
Picture 1: Nuclear chart with the region of known heavy and superheavy nuclei. The nuclei discovered at SHIP are marked with blue frames.
Superheavy
Elements
Elements
with proton numbers Z≥104 are called superheavy elements (SHE).
They can only exist because the neutrons and protons are arranged in
shells. This gives an additional stability to the nuclei, which
prevents their instantaneous fission. For certain neutron and proton
numbers a particularly high stability is expected for the respective
nuclei which should enhance their half-lives. This "island of
stability" is expected for proton numbers Z=114 or 120-126 and neutron
numbers N=184. To reach and explore this island is presently the main
goal of SHE research.
Nuclear Spectroscopy
With
spectroscopic methods the arrangement and energy levels of the neutrons
and protons in the nucleus can be determined. Especially the
structure
of nuclei at the limits of stability is essential for the test and
further development of nuclear models. At SHIP spectroscopy is
performed on heavy and superheavy nuclei with up to 110 protons by
detecting alpha particles, gamma rays and conversion electrons which
are emitted from excited nuclei.
Nuclear Reaction Studies
When the projectile and target nucleus
come into nuclear contact during a collision they stick together and
form a di-nuclear system. This allows the neutrons and protons to flow
from one nucleus to the other, which is regarded as first step of a
fusion process by some theoretical models. At SHIP the formation and
time development of di-nuclear systems which lead to the formation of
superheavy elements can be studied.
High-Precision
Mass Meassurements
The
mass of an atomic nucleus reflects its binding energy and, hence, the
nuclear forces. Therefore, the measurement of nuclear masses with high
accuracy allows for the test of nuclear models, which is especially
interesting for nuclei at the limits of stability. High-precision mass
measurements on heavy and superheavy nuclei are feasible with the
SHIPTrap facility.
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