A laser will probe the atomic fingerprints of rare, short-lived nuclei that are on the verge of spitting out a proton. This research addresses a fundamental gap in nuclear physics. At the very edge of the nuclear landscape, some unstable nuclei decay by emitting a single proton. No one has yet measured the shape of a nucleus in the moments just before that emission happens. The project will use laser spectroscopy—a technique that reads the hyperfine structure of an atom like a barcode—to extract the nucleus’s charge radius, spin, and electromagnetic moments. These properties reveal how the proton’s departure warps the rest of the nucleus. This is curiosity-driven fundamental science with no immediate practical application. However, the measurements will provide a stringent test of state-of-the-art nuclear theories. Constraining the nuclear wave function in such an extreme regime could sharpen our understanding of the strong nuclear force itself. Historically, deeper knowledge of nuclear structure has fed into everything from medical isotope production to reactor safety models, though those applications lie far downstream of this work.
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What is the shape of the nucleus in the moments before it emits a proton? How does the shape of the nucleus change when the proton becomes unbound? In this project, I will answer these questions by performing the first laser spectroscopy studies on proton-emitting nuclei - bringing a powerful technique into a new research domain. At the edges of the nuclear landscape, a rare form of radioactive decay occurs where the nucleus emits a proton. Studying proton-emitting nuclei with laser spectroscopy provides a new and exciting opportunity to test the fundamental properties of the nuclear force. With several new international facilities starting up, it is an opportunity that has not been possible until now. Laser spectroscopy measures the hyperfine structure of atoms, an atomic fingerprint that allows nuclear properties (e.g. spin, electromagnetic moments and charge radii) to be measured in a nuclear-model- independent way. For example, the charge radius tells us about the proton distribution in the nucleus i.e. its shape. By measuring nuclei across the proton-drip line (beyond which proton decay occurs), we can understand the effect of the proton on the nucleus before it is emitted and gain a unique insight into how this single proton can influence the behaviour of the whole nucleus. These measurements will be compared to state-of-the-art nuclear theories which will provide a powerful test of said theories, allowing us to constrain the nuclear wave function and provide a significant insight into the complex system that is the nucleus.
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