[Triumf-seminars] TRIUMF Seminar, Tue 2005-08-09 at 14:00

postmaster@ADMIN.TRIUMF.CA postmaster@ADMIN.TRIUMF.CA
Tue, 9 Aug 2005 05:55:36 -0700


Date/Time: Tue 2005-08-09 at 14:00  

Location: Auditorium  

Speaker: Chuck Horowitz (Indiana University)  

Title: Neutron rich matter in astrophysics and in the laboratory  

Abstract: Neutron stars and other compact astrophysical objects are made of neutron rich matter.  We describe a variety of laboratory experiments that indirectly probe neutron rich matter using beams of electrons, heavy ions, and radioactive isotopes.  The Parity Radius Experiment (PREX) aims to measure the neutron radius of 208Pb using parity violating electron scattering.  Precisely measuring the neutron rich skin of a heavy nucleus determines the density dependence of the symmetry energy, or how the energy rises for systems with excess neutrons.  This has many implications for the crust, composition, radius, and cooling rate of neutron stars.   PREX is a precision experiment on a stable nucleus that yields complimentary information to experiments with neutron rich radioactive beams.  Next, we present semiclassical molecular dynamics simulations of the nonuniform neutron rich matter in the inner crust of a neutron star.   This complex matter is called nuclear pasta and results from competition between nuclear attraction and coulomb repulsion.  Pasta phases are closely related to the multiple large fragments formed in some heavy ion collisions.  The properties of pasta may be important for the electromagnetic, neutrino, and gravitational radiations of neutron stars.

   

Stimulants available 15 minutes before the talk.