ISOON · Isomers in Odd-Odd Nuclei
Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2024-06-03 → 2026-06-02
- EU contribution
- €211,755
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Isomers in Odd-Odd Nuclei
The ISOON project was designed to address fundamental questions in nuclear structure and isomerism. The primary motivation behind the project was to understand the microscopic origin of long-lived nuclear isomeric states, nuclear size, shape coexistence and exotic electromagnetic transitions in mediumt o heavy mass nuclei. Nuclear Isomers are excited states of atomic nuclei that live significantly longer than typical nuclear states, making the understanding of their formation and decay crucial for advancing fundamental physics. To tackle these complex many-body problems, the project intergrated traditional theoretical modelling and close collaboration with experimental studies with cutting-edge computational techniques, including machine learning and quantum computing. The expected pathway to impact spans both fundamental scientific discovery and long-term societal applications. By investigating isomer decay hindrance mechanisms and electromagnetic transition rates, the project lays the scientific foundation for potential future technologies in energy storage. A key example is emerging concept of nuclear batteries which relies on the controlled manipulation of isomeric transitions. Furthermore, by building quantum algorithms and interpretable machine-learning frameworks for nuclear physics, the research supports cross-sector technological innovation that can benefit data-driven fields such as material science and quantum technologies.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
This proposal delves into the science of nuclear isomers, complex quantum states with distinct energy levels and long lifetimes. Isomers hold untapped potential in nuclear physics and astrophysics, capable of revolutionizing energy production, impacting stellar evolution, enhancing timekeeping, and transforming medical imaging. Modelling isomers remains an ongoing challenge. With the global interest in isomer research growing, new models for the description of isomerism must be pursued. With this idea in mind, the proposal aims to develop an innovative theoretical framework unifying existing nuclear models, specifically, the algebraic interacting boson fermion-fermion model with constraints coming from shell model interactions, to bridge the theory gaps for resolving the mysteries of odd-odd isomers. This is in line with the mutual interests of the applicant and supervisor.Odd-odd nuclei are very rich in the number of isomers, but their quantitative understanding is still amiss. Their isomer data will be analyzed to search for the global similarities and differences in spectroscopic properties across the nuclear landscape. The main goal is to quantify the decay properties, lifetimes, and structure of odd-odd isomers, particularly in shape-transitional regions, where the isomeric structure gets very complex and is not yet properly understood. The new theoretical tool will be generic in nature and can be used to study other nuclear physics phenomena, having a longer-term influence on nuclear physics research even after the fellowship. Interdisciplinary and broad-range nuclear physics applications, including Bose-Einstein Condensate, superheavy nuclei, and isomer experiments will be established, benefiting from the expertise of senior experimental collaborators at GANIL, Surrey, and London. The plan envisions cross-fertilisations between theoretical insights and experimental data, boosting the applicant's career, and inspiring the scientific awareness of the public.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union