Researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Chalmers University of Technology, and the University of Tennessee have made significant strides in understanding the limits of nuclear stability, particularly in calcium isotopes. Their work, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, focuses on the “neutron dripline,” the point at which adding another neutron to a nucleus would make it unstable.
The team, led by B. S. Hu and including A. Ekström, C. Forssén, G. Hagen, W. G. Jiang, T. Miyagi, and T. Papenbrock, developed a new nuclear interaction model called N^3LO_Texas. This model combines two- and three-nucleon potentials and is optimized using advanced computational techniques to fit data from both few-nucleon systems and many-body nuclei.
The researchers found that their model accurately reproduces the binding energies and charge radii of nuclei ranging from mass number A=3 to A=208, as well as important excited states and nuclear matter near saturation. This is a significant achievement, as previous models derived from effective field theories of quantum chromodynamics had failed to bind calcium nuclei beyond neutron number N=40, while other models typically placed the neutron dripline near N=50.
Using ab-initio methods, the team discovered that the calcium two-neutron dripline extends to calcium-71 (Ca-71), which has 51 neutrons. This finding has implications for the energy industry, particularly in the field of nuclear energy. Understanding the limits of nuclear stability can help in the development of new nuclear fuels and the management of nuclear waste.
Moreover, the accurate modeling of nuclear properties can improve the design and safety of nuclear reactors. The N^3LO_Texas interaction model could also be used to study other heavy elements, providing valuable insights for the nuclear industry.
In summary, the research team’s work represents a significant advancement in the understanding of nuclear stability and has practical applications for the energy sector, particularly in nuclear energy. The findings were published in Physical Review Letters, a prestigious journal in the field of physics.
This article is based on research available at arXiv.