Grant: Subatomic Physics Envelope - Research Tools and Instruments

Atomic nuclei form an integral part of our entire universe. Nuclear species existing in very neutron-rich stellar environments are interesting objects that determine the formation of heavy elements in our solar system. It is therefore necessary to have an understanding of the properties of such nuclei. Accelerated ion beams of these species are nowadays produced in our laboratories. The study of such objects have opened a new view of nuclei in general. Exotic forms of nuclei, termed as the nuclear halo, nuclear skin have been observed. The proposed experimental program aims to exploit the ion beams of such nuclear species available at Canada's national laboratory, TRIUMF, Vancouver to investigate into the arrangement of matter inside such exotic objects. Associated with these new forms of nuclear matter one may expect new modes of excitation in nuclei to also appear. Investigations are planned to search for such new ways of exciting these exotic species. The silicon telescope array proposed will allow us to disentangle the various kinds of reactions that a nucleus undergoes when it strikes another nucleus. One can then select the specifc reaction route of interest to gain insight into the properties of these nuclei.