High resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy and the fascinating angular momentum realm of the atomic nucleus

Riley, MA, Simpson, J and Paul, ES (2016) High resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy and the fascinating angular momentum realm of the atomic nucleus. PHYSICA SCRIPTA, 91 (12). p. 123002.

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Abstract

In 1974 Aage Bohr and Ben Mottelson predicted the different 'phases' that may be expected in deformed nuclei as a function of increasing angular momentum and excitation energy all the way up to the fission limit. While admitting their picture was highly conjectural they confidently stated '...with the ingenious experimental approaches that are being developed, we may look forward with excitement to the detailed spectroscopic studies that will illuminate the behaviour of the spinning quantised nucleus'. High resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy has indeed been a major tool in studying the structure of atomic nuclei and has witnessed numerous significant advances over the last four decades. This article will select highlights from investigations at the Niels Bohr Institute, Denmark, and Daresbury Laboratory, UK, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, some of which have continued at other national laboratories in Europe and the USA to the present day. These studies illustrate the remarkable diversity of phenomena and symmetries exhibited by nuclei in the angular momentum-excitation energy plane that continue to surprise and fascinate scientists.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Gamma spectroscopy, Detector instrumentation, nuclear structure, collective excitations, single particle excitations, high angular momentum
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	21 Nov 2018 15:33
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 01:12
DOI:	10.1088/0031-8949/91/12/123002
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3028989