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Nuclei & Particles

This “event display” is a snapshot of a very high energy nuclear collision that produces large numbers of outgoing subatomic particles, represented by the straight line “tracks” emanating from the center. (Courtesy of the PHENIX Experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider)
This “event display” is a snapshot of a very high energy nuclear collision that produces large numbers of outgoing subatomic particles, represented by the straight line “tracks” emanating from the center. (Courtesy of the PHENIX Experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider)

Using the Edwards Accelerator and National Labs

At the scale of nuclei, about 10,000 times smaller than atoms, we encounter the strong force that holds together protons and neutrons in the nucleus and also holds together quarks inside the proton and neutron. The strong force is about 100 times bigger than the electric forces that bind electrons to atoms, and so it requires powerful accelerators to study it.

The Edwards Accelerator Lab, located on campus at Ohio University, and national accelerator laboratories are used by faculty and students to study the properties of both the strong and the weak nuclear forces. Whether trying to discover new types of particles or learning what goes on inside supernova explosions, the goal of this research is to learn about the fundamental forces that bind nuclei and particles.

Faculty

Associated Faculty and Staff

  • Dr. Heather Crawford: Low-energy Nuclear Structure of Exotic Nuclei, Gamma-ray Spectroscopy and Gamma-ray Detection Arrays
  • Dr. Steven Grimes: Experimental Nuclear Physics and Level Densities of Nuclei
  • Dr. Gabriela Popa (Zanesville campus): Theoretical Nuclear Physics
  • Dr. Cody Parker: Experimental nuclear physics, neutron-induced reactions, and applications

External Links