Session Y2: An Introduction to the New Nuclear Physics

An Introduction to Nuclear Physics - Teaching from the Nuclear Science Wall Chart

The Nuclear Science Wallchart was developed in order to convey the basic concepts of nuclear science and to identify areas of current forefront research in this field for students at a variety of levels. In this talk, I will describe the major topics illustrated in the chart and will point to resources available to teachers to aid in the instruction of this material.   

The Highest Temperature Matter on Earth

As one raises the temperature of matter, one breaks down larger structures into smaller and smaller components. At temperatures above $3 \times 10^{12}$ degrees Fahrenheit, molecules, atoms, nuclei, protons give way to a novel form of matter called the quark-gluon plasma. This plasma, with a temperature more than a million times hotter than the center of our sun, is the form of matter that dominated the early universe shortly after the big bang. In this talk, experiments re-creating this plasma will be described and their surprising results discussed.   

Search for the Origins of the Elements and Their Isotopes

Where did the atoms in our bodies originate? This is a kind of ultimate genealogical quest for our origins in the universe that begins shortly after the Big Bang when most of the hydrogen and helium were formed. Stars produced the remaining 88 elements found in nature, but the details of this production are not understood. We still do not know, for example, were more than half of the elements heavier than iron are produced, although modern telescopes provide clues. The solution is to observe elements in the cosmos and attempt to accurately model how they got there. A key to accurate modeling is an understanding of the properties of atomic nuclei that participate in the process. Often this involves properties of isotopes with far more neutrons than we are currently able to produce and study in the laboratory. This talk will discuss the quest to produce in the laboratory these isotopes, which previously only existed in the most extreme astrophysical environments. In the process we confront another question of the limits of the elements. We have made elements up to atomic number 118 and isotopes with twice the normal mass, but how far can we extend this process, and do the ultimate limits have observable consequences in nature?