Project Details
SFB 1245: Nuclei: From Fundamental Interactions to Structure and Stars
Subject Area
Physics
Term
since 2016
Website
Homepage
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 279384907
The SFB 1245 explores the physics of “Nuclei: From Fundamental Interactions to Structure and Stars” in the unique environment at the TU Darmstadt. The strong experiment-theory synergies in Darmstadt enable an exciting program across nuclear structure physics and nuclear astrophysics, with an impact also beyond these fields. The CRC is developing a systematic understanding of nuclei across the nuclear chart based on effective field theories (EFTs) of the strong interaction. Exploiting scale separation in nuclei, EFTs enable a consistent and systematic description of nuclear forces and electroweak interactions in nuclei and nuclear matter. This theoretical understanding is tested with key experiments at international facilities and at the S-DALINAC in Darmstadt. In nuclear astrophysics, we focus on core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers, their nucleosynthesis fingerprints, and the associated kilonovae and gravitational wave signals. The research program of the CRC addresses two strongly connected areas: (A) Strong interactions and precision nuclear structure and (B) Electroweak interactions and nuclear astrophysics. In area A, we investigate key facets of nuclei across the nuclear landscape, advancing the limits of experimental and theoretical methods. This includes measurements of charge radii and electromagnetic transitions with high accuracy, exploring correlations in multi-neutron systems, and precision spectroscopy of neutron-rich nuclei. Novel many-body methods are being developed and applied with accurate chiral EFT interactions to understand how the properties of nuclei emerge from nuclear forces. This is complemented by EFTs in the universal regime of halo nuclei and few-neutron systems. In area B, calculations of the nuclear equation of state from low to high densities and finite temperature provide input to supernova and merger simulations. The equation of state will be constrained by direct measurements of the electric dipole polarizability of nuclei. Another focus will be the systematic investigation of magnetic dipole properties of nuclei including the contributions from two-body currents. We will explore the role of electroweak interactions and neutrinos in the dynamics of supernovae, neutron star mergers, and for nucleosynthesis. We will expand our program to include the observations of the oldest stars to compare against our nucleosynthesis predictions. An Integrated Research Training Group will provide an enhanced, innovative, and international environment, and we have devised an outreach program that transfers our excitement for the CRC research to schools and the general public. The TU Darmstadt is the strongest university center combining experimental and theoretical nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics in Germany. Joining our strengths in the CRC is taking our understanding of the chart of nuclei based on EFTs and the nuclear physics of multimessenger observations to a new level.
DFG Programme
Collaborative Research Centres
Current projects
- A01 - Precision structure of light nuclei (Project Heads Nörtershäuser, Wilfried ; Pietralla, Norbert Andreas )
- A02 - Effective field theories and ab initio calculations of light nuclei (Project Heads Hammer, Hans-Werner ; Roth, Robert )
- A03 - Radii an electromagnetic structure of medium-mass nuclei (Project Heads Nörtershäuser, Wilfried ; Obertelli, Alexandre ; Petri, Marina )
- A04 - Strong interactions and structure of medium-mass nuclei (Project Heads Roth, Robert ; Schwenk, Achim )
- A05 - Halos and clustering in nuclei (Project Heads Aumann, Thomas ; Capel, Pierre ; Hammer, Hans-Werner )
- A06 - Strong interactions beyond the neutron drip line (Project Heads Aumann, Thomas ; Duer, Ph.D., Meytal ; Paschalis, Ph.D., Stefanos ; Rossi, Dominic Michel )
- A08 - Shell evolution towards the neutron drip line (Project Heads Liu, Hongna ; Obertelli, Alexandre ; Wimmer, Kathrin )
- B01 - Electroweak interactions in nuclei and nuclear matter (Project Heads Martinez-Pinedo, Gabriel ; Schwenk, Achim )
- B02 - Experimental exploration of electroweak interactions in nuclei (Project Heads Enders, Joachim ; von Neumann-Cosel, Peter ; Pietralla, Norbert Andreas ; Werner, Volker )
- B04 - Electric dipole response and neutron equation of state (Project Heads Bacca, Sonia ; von Neumann-Cosel, Peter ; Scheit, Ph.D., Heiko )
- B05 - Nuclear matter equation of state for astrophysical applications (Project Heads Braun, Jens ; Hebeler, Kai )
- B06 - Nucleosynthesis in core-collapse supernovae (Project Heads Arcones, Almudena ; Martinez-Pinedo, Gabriel )
- B07 - Equation of state and nucleosynthesis in neutron star mergers (Project Heads Arcones, Almudena ; Bauswein, Andreas ; Hansen, Ph.D., Camilla Juul )
- MGK - Integrated Research Training Group (Project Heads Arcones, Almudena ; Hammer, Hans-Werner ; Nörtershäuser, Wilfried ; Obertelli, Alexandre ; Spatz, Verena )
- Z - Central tasks (Project Head Schwenk, Achim )
- Ö1 - Outreach (Project Heads Roth, Robert ; Spatz, Verena )
Completed projects
Applicant Institution
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Participating University
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main; Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Participating Institution
GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH
Spokesperson
Professor Dr. Achim Schwenk