Nuclear Seminar

Proximity Decay of Nuclei

Dr. Sylvia Hudan
University of Chicago

Monday, November 10, 2008   4:00 p.m.   NSH 124
(Refreshments served prior to seminar in NSH 124)

While short-lived nuclear states have been studied for decades, the influence of external fields on their decay properties has not been extensively studied. In the case of a short-lived cluster emitted by a heavy nucleus, it could decay while still interacting with the heavy nucleus field. The magnitude of the effect might give us insights on the formation of the cluster originating from the heavy nucleus surface. The first excited state of ⁸Be with a decay lifetime of 131 fm/c is an ideal candidate to look for such effect. The observed decay properties of the first excited state of ⁸Be emitted by a heavy nucleus following a peripheral heavy-ion collision will be shown.