Support for collaborations, visits and experiments – International Research Laboratory for Nuclear Physics and Nuclear Astrophysics

June 2024 – CNRS researcher B. Bastin (second from left) from GANIL participated in an experiment lead by FRIB researchers S. Giraud (center) and R. Zegers (right). The picture was taken with IRL-NPA director J. Margueron (left) and co-director O. Naviliat-Cuncic (second from right). The (d,²He) charge-exchange reaction was studied in inverse kinematics with ³²Mg and ³³Al beams. It used a combination of the S800 Spectrograph and the Active-Target Time-Projection Chamber. The S800 acceptance made it possible to measure transitions up to the ~S_2n of ³²Na and ³³Mg. For the first time, the Gamow-Teller strengths in the β⁺ direction will be extracted on these unstable nuclei. The data will constrain theoretical models used for estimating Gamow-Teller strengths and therefore electron-capture rates in and at the boundary of the N=20 island of inversion. Nuclei in this region play important roles in neutron-star crusts and the details of the Gamow-Teller strength distributions determine whether particular nuclei contribute to heating and cooling and where they reside in the crust.

April 2024 – CNRS researcher X. Fléchard (second from left) and Graduate Student R. Garreau (third from left) from Laboratoire de Physique Corpusculaire de Caen were supported by the IRL NPA during an off-line experiment that they performed at FRIB. The picture was taken with O. Naviliat-Cuncic (left) and J. Margueron (right) respectively co-director and director of IRL NPA. The measurement was carried out in collaboration with scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Krzysztof Rykaczewski, Charlie Rasco, Thomas Ruland and Toby King) and used the Modular Total Absorption Spectrometer, MTAS, located at FRIB. The goal was to study the Bremsstrahlung radiation escaping from YAP scintillator detectors in order to benchmark Monte-Carlo simulations. The picture was taken at the end of the experiment with IRL NPA co-director Oscar Naviliat-Cuncic (left) and IRL NPA director Jérôme Margueron (right).

Nov. 2023 – Six experimentalists from IN2P3 laboratories participated in experiment e23037 at FRIB and were supported by the IRL NPA. Front row: experiment spokesperson C. Fougères (Argonne National Laboratory), L. Dienis (GANIL), F. Hammache (IJC-Lab), F. De Oliveira (GANIL). Back row: V. Girard-Alcindor (IJC-Lab), N. de Sereville (IJC-Lab), O. Naviliat-Cuncic (IRL NPA co-director), H. Jacob (IJC Lab). The experiment used the gamma-ray array GRETINA and was a measurement of a transfer reaction enabling to probe resonance strengths in a proton capture reaction which is important to assess the 26Al production in classical novae.