Physics of the nucleus

The School operates the premier facility in Australia for accelerator-based research in physics of the nucleus. These facilities are centred on the 14UD electrostatic heavy-ion accelerator and a new modular superconducting linear accelerator booster. The accelerators feed a variety of experiments and instrumentation, enabling the study of:

  • Fusion and Fission Dynamics with Heavy Ions
  • Nuclear Spectroscopy
  • Nuclear Moments and Hyperfine Fields
  • Perturbed Angular Correlations and Hyperfine Interactions applied to Materials
  • Heavy Ion Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA)
  • Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS)

Related departments

Find a research project »

Potential student research projects

You could be doing your own research into the physics of the nucleus. Below are some examples of student physics research projects available in our school.

Time dependence of nuclear fusion

This project will allow us to understand the time-dependence of quantum tunnelling and nuclear fusion.

Dr Edward Simpson

Tracking radon-induced backgrounds in the CYGNO directional dark matter detector

This project investigates radon-induced backgrounds in the CYGNO directional dark matter detector. The student will develop an event-by-event simulation of radioactive decay chains and use alpha particle signatures to infer low-energy backgrounds, contributing to the understanding of detector performance using recent experimental data.

Dr Robert Renz Marcelo Gregorio, Dr Alasdair McLean, Dr Lindsey Bignell, Professor Gregory Lane

Neutron stars: understanding physics at the extreme

Neutron stars are a unique laboratory for probing physics under the greatest extremes of density and gravity, far beyond what is capable in terrestrial laboratories.  This project aims to use gravitational wave discoveries and electromagnetic observations of neutron stars to examine fundamental physics.

Dr Karl Wette, Distinguished Prof Susan Scott

Nuclear batteries: Energy-storage applications of nuclear isomers

Nuclear metastable states, known colloquially as isomers, have energy densities millions of times greater than chemical batteries. This project investigates nuclear pathways for reliably extracting this energy from candidate isotopes on demand. 

Dr AJ Mitchell, Professor Gregory Lane

Please browse our full list of available physics research projects to find a student research project that interests you.