Electric dipole excitations and related structures in atomic nuclei

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andreas Zilges
• Subject Area: Nuclear and Elementary Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, Fields
• Term: from 2009 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 97812243

The symmetry between protons and neutrons forming atomic nuclei is a crucial ingredient of nuclear physics which has significant consequences for our view of these mesoscopic quantum systems. The study of electric dipole transitions between bound states in nuclei is one approach to learn more about the breaking of this symmetry. The topic of the proposed research project is the investigation of electric dipole excitations and related structures up to the particle threshold in medium heavy and heavy atomic nuclei and their interpretation within the scope of different nuclear models. For this purpose it is planned to perform studies with various complementary experimental probes from heavy ions to photons and to use a variety of techniques to extract the most revealing observables. The major part of the experiments will be conducted at the tandem ion accelerator at the University of Cologne, additional information will come from experimental facilities at TU Darmstadt, KVI Groningen, MLL München and HIGS Duke University.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants