| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/C015193/1 |
| Title: |
Relativistic Semiclassical Giant Resonances |
| Principal Investigator: |
Stevenson, Dr PD |
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| Department: |
Department of Physics |
| Organisation: |
University of Surrey |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
22 June 2005 |
Ends: |
21 December 2005 |
Value (£): |
25,459
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| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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The nucleus of an atom consists of protons and neutrons, which are stuck together with forces which are not fully understood. It is thought that the force is not so simple that you can take it as just occurring between pairs of nucleons (protons and neutrons), but that new effects come into play when you consider three or more nucleons interacting with each other. This complexity makes studying nuclei a difficult task. On the other hand, it is known that the nuclear force can behave as if it were effectively just between pairs of nucleons. Using this assumption, we can practically calculate the observed properties of nuclei, consisting of up to several hundred interacting nucleons, with suitable chosen effective interactions, the link can be made back to the basic many-particle interaction and one can build up a sophisticated picture of how nuclear forces manifest themselves in the observed properties of nuclei.The research we propose uses effective interactions, which have been motivated by their link to more basic theories, to calculate some special vibrating states of nuclei. The states (called Giant Resonances) are being observed in experiment, and by comparing the results of our calculations to the experimental results - particular the frequency (the musical note) at which the vibrations occur, we can discover how good our ideas of effective interactions are.This broad picture is complicated by the fact that even with effective interactions, a full calculation of these vibrating nuclei is still an impossibly difficult task, and we must try and make some approximations to be able to calculate anything at all. Part of this project consists of evaluating a new method of approximating, which makes calculation practical. It is a way of using quantum mechanics - the laws that govern very small things like nuclei - only where it is most important, and classical mechanics - the laws that govern normal-sized things - where we are sure that it okay to do so.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.surrey.ac.uk |