Past Events › Seminar Events

Abstract: Atomic nuclei are the highest energy density, practically-accessible systems at humanity’s disposal.  This unparalleled energy density allows for the development of unique technological tools to address the health, energy and national/international security challenges of the 21st century provided that we have a good knowledge of nuclear reaction and decay data they require. However, the complex nature of the nuclear many-body problem makes it impossible for us to predict nuclear data accurately enough to optimize the design of these nuclear…

Abstract: In the 1950’s Cowan and Reines first detected the antineutrino by using a cadmium-doped liquid scintillator detector to measure the prompt positron and delayed neutron signature. Following this discovery, nuclear physicists used the same experimental technique to expand their understanding of neutron emission from inelastic neutron interactions on actinides. This seminar will focus on the interplay between experimental techniques used for antineutrino detection and fission neutron studies by highlighting experiments conducted at LLNL. Despite the different objectives of these…

Abstract: While the probability of nuclear exchange may be low, the consequences are undeniably grave. My research focuses on methods to improve nuclear security and nonproliferation while advancing technically-sound policies. Via a series of vignettes, I discuss the three main themes of my research—policy-relevant inquiry, data analytics, and applied nuclear physics. First, the planned deployment of new types of nuclear warheads raises questions concerning whether these capabilities alter the threshold for nuclear use—questions that lack the observational data needed to…

Abstract: Ion traps have long been recognized as superb precision tools for fundamental physics research (Nobel Prize, 1989). In contemporary nuclear physics, they are widely employed to prepare, control and study short-lived radionuclides with high precision and accuracy. Recently, electrostatic ion beam traps have gained in importance by their use as Multi-Reflection Time-of-Fight (MR-ToF) mass separators. In these instruments, ions bounce back and forth between two electrostatic mirrors. Thus, a flight path of a few kilometers is folded into a…