Overview

Nuclear theory research at Notre Dame addresses the origin of the elements and the strongly correlated motion of nucleons within the nucleus, through investigations in theoretical nuclear astrophysics and nuclear structure physics. In nuclear astrophysics, we probe the properties of nuclei and nuclear matter under extremes of temperature and density, in order to constrain nuclear physics, astrophysical environments, and non-standard model physics. In nuclear structure, we seek to understand the emergence of simple patterns, such as quantal rotational and vibrational modes, through ab initio and collective approaches, in nuclei from the very lightest to the heaviest and to the limits of stability.

News & Events

• TRIUMF ab initio workshop February 2017 Mark Caprio and graduate student Anna McCoy participated in the international workshop Progress in Ab Initio Techniques in Nuclear Physics at TRIUMF in Vancouver, British Columbia. They presented initial results of Anna's thesis work on developing an ab initio framework for using symplectic symmetry in the nuclear many-body problem. This work is in collaboration with Tomas Dytrych of the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

• Colloquium: Wick Haxton January 2017 Nuclear theorist Wick Haxton of the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is giving the January 25, 2017, departmental colloquium The nuclear physics of dark matter detection.

• Abe Flores participates in Conference Experience for Undergraduates October 2016 Our Summer 2016 Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) student Abraham Flores, from Michigan State University, participated in the Conference Experience for Undergraduates program at the American Physical Society Division of Nuclear Physics meeting in Vancouver, where he presented the results of his REU project. In his REU work at Notre Dame, mentored by Mark Caprio and Valentino Constantinou, he had developed routines for accurate evaluation of numerical integrals needed in ab initio nuclear structure calculations.

• Valentino Constantinou thesis defense September 2016 Graduate student Chrysovalantis (Valentino) Constantinou defended his thesis Natural orbitals for the no-core configuration interaction approach, completed under the supervision of Mark Caprio, on September 1, 2016. Valentino studied the use of natural orbitals, an approach adapted from atomic and molecular electron-structure physics, in ab initio nuclear structure calculations of light nuclei. His thesis work included collaborations with the Iowa State nuclear theory group of James Vary and Pieter Maris.

• ICNT program on r-process nucleosynthesis June 2016 The International Collaborations in Nuclear Theory (ICNT) workshop "r-process nucleosynthesis: connecting FRIB with the cosmos" was held May 31-June 17, 2016 at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory/Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University. The workshop was co-organized by Chuck Horowitz (Indiana), Brian Metzger (Columbia), Gail McLaughlin (NCSU), Hendrik Schatz (MSU), and Rebecca Surman.

• Surman elected to FRIB Theory Alliance Executive Board May 2016 Rebecca Surman has been elected as a new member of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) Theory Alliance Executive Board. The FRIB Theory Alliance is a coalition of scientists from universities and national laboratories who seek to foster advancements in theory related to diverse areas of FRIB science; optimize the coupling between theory and experiment; and rejuvenate the field by creating permanent theory positions across the country. Surman will serve a three-year term on the board.

• MacKenzie Warren receives Shaheen Award May 2016 Graduate student MacKenzie Warren has been selected as a recipient of the 2016 Shaheen Award. The highest honor bestowed on Notre Dame graduate students, the Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Awards were established in 1990 and are named for two long-time benefactors of the University. They recognize the superior academic achievements of a graduating student in each of the four divisions of the Graduate School: Engineering, the Humanities, Science, and the Social Sciences.

• Weichuan Li thesis defense May 2016 Graduate student Weichuan Li defended her thesis Algebraic collective model and its application to core quasiparticle coupling, completed under the supervision of Stefan Frauendorf and Mark Caprio, on May 3, 2016. Weichuan studied the nuclear structure of medium heavy nuclei, in the nuclear regions where deformed nuclei change shape from axial to triaxial. She investigated the core-quasiparticle interaction odd-mass nuclei with soft triaxial collective cores and established the role of the quasiparticle in dynamically stabilizing rigid triaxial deformation. Her thesis work includes collaborations with the Notre Dame experimental groups of Ani Aprahamian and Umesh Garg.

• Colloquium: Petr Navratil April 2016 Nuclear theorist Petr Navratil of TRIUMF is giving the April 27, 2016, departmental colloquium Ab initio calculations of nuclear reactions important for astrophysics. Navratil is Theory Group Leader at TRIUMF and Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University.

• MacKenzie Warren thesis defense April 2016 Graduate student MacKenzie Warren defended his thesis Neutrinos in core-collapse supernovae, completed under the supervision of Grant Mathews, on April 6, 2016. MacKenzie researched the effects of sterile neutrino species on core bounce and shock reheating in supernovae, reformulated the Notre Dame-Livermore nuclear equation of state, and carried out relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of black hole formation via rapid accretion onto a neutron star.

• FRIB Theory Alliance Inaugural Meeting April 2016 Rebecca Surman, Mark Caprio, and graduate students Weichuan Li and Anna McCoy participated in the two-day FRIB Theory Alliance Inaugural Meeting at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams in East Lansing, Michigan. Rebecca Surman presented the meeting's overview talk on Nucleosynthesis [PDF].

• Colloquium: Silas Beane March 2016 Nuclear theorist Silas Beane of the University of Washington is giving the March 23, 2016, departmental colloquium Nuclear physics from lattice QCD. Beane is Professor of Physics at the University of Washington. [PDF abstract]

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