Nuclear Theory Group

Prof. Jonathan Engel and postdoctoral fellows Jun Terasaki and Shufang Ban are working on several interesting problems at the interface of nuclear physics, particle physics and astrophysics:

• Studying the synthesis of the heaviest elements (from lighter elements capturing neutrons and beta decaying), a process that is thought to take place in supernova explosions but is not completely understoood.

• Calculating nuclear double beta decay rates, so that experiments looking for unusual neutrino properties (a nonzero mass, for instance) can be properly interpreted.

• Investigating ways in which fundamental symmetries (e.g. parity and time-reversal invariance) can be violated in nuclei.

• Investigating how to consistently apply density-functional theory to nuclei when symmetries are violated by mean-field wave functions.

• Coding a general continuum QRPA for Skyrme-like density functions.

Dr. Engel collaborates with experimental groups at TUNL, as well as with particle theorists from UNC and nuclear theorists from a number of other universities. For a list of his publications click here.