The lessons learned from ephemeral nuclei

Physics Today

Recent experimental discoveries are reshaping how scientists view atomic nuclei. Traditionally, nuclei have been classified as either stable or unstable, but this binary distinction overlooks the wide range of nuclear lifetimes, from fleeting moments to times far exceeding the age of the universe. Witek Nazarewicz, John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Physics and chief scientist at FRIB, and Lee Sobotka, professor of chemistry and physics at Washington University in St. Louis, wrote an article about the discoveries for Physics Today.

Physical Review Letters has selected the reporting the first new-isotope discovery at FRIB for its Collection of the Year 2024

An Editor's Suggestion in Physical Review C featured a submission authored by a team of scientists that included FRIB researchers. The scientists measured the mass of tin-103, which is just three neutrons away from tin-100, laying the foundation for future high-precision mass measurements of tin-100. The measurement took place using the Low Energy Beam and Ion Trap (LEBIT) located at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). 

Supported by a new Strategic Partnership Grant from the Michigan State University Research Foundation, an interdisciplinary team will establish a framework on MSU’s campus that streamlines the development of a promethium-149-based radiopharmaceutical as an effective prostate cancer therapeutic. This integrated system will use cutting-edge facilities including the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB; the Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering, better known as IQ; as well as newly expanded radiochemistry laboratories in MSU’s Department of Chemistry.  

Into the islands of inversion

Nature Physics

Calculating the energy levels and their properties in a nucleus is a formidable task. The nuclear shell model has been very successful in describing many properties of atomic nuclei, such as their excitation energy spectrum. The shortcomings of this model became apparent when facilities dedicated to the production and study of radioactive isotopes, such as FRIB, began operations. Now, writing in Nature Physics, Alexandra Gade, professor of physics at FRIB and in MSU's Department of Physics and Astronomy and FRIB scientific director, and collaborators have measured the features of the neutron-rich nucleus chromium-62, which belongs to one of those islands of inversion, as predicted by shell model calculations.

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