This project aims to discover if the long-held concept of low-energy nuclear vibrations holds true under scrutiny from Coulomb excitation and nucleon-transfer reactions. 

New methods to determine the shapes of atomic nuclei via the measurement of their electric quadrupole moment are being developed. Most nuclei are prolate spheroids - shaped like an Australian Rules football. As well as giving a picture of the nucleus, the quadrupole moment is an important observable to test theory. 

This project will use nuclear reactions to study the basic make-up of atomic nuclei at the quantum level, and investigate the impact of nuclear structure on sub-atomic forces and fundamental physics. 

The measurement of the lifetimes of excited nuclear states is foundational for understanding nuclear excitations. This project covers three measurement methods that together span the nuclear lifetime range from about 100 femtoseconds to many nanoseconds. The project can include equipment development, measurement, and the development of analysis methodology (programming and computation).