Nuclear scattering processes are central in fields as diverse as nuclear astrophysics and the genesis of the chemical elements, cosmology, nuclear stockpile stewardship and reactor technology. While a large catalogue of scattering data has been accrued about important processes, much has not been measured, much is extremely difficult to measure, and much cannot feasibly be measured. In these last cases, theoretical studies are the only way to glean insight.

While much can be achieved with generic quantum potentials between nuclear projectiles and their targets, to understand more deeply the complexities of the interaction we need potentials that take into account the behaviour of the nuclei involved. Nuclei, however, are complicated in their behaviour. At different times the whole body may rotate, or vibrate, or divide into interacting clusters. At other times, the dynamics of individual protons or neutron determines the behaviour. This latter case involves the nuclear shell model.

This project involves understanding and then using a shell model-derived scattering potential in a scattering theory that has had success predicting properties of nuclei far from stability and interpreting existing data. Students will develop their coding skills, deepen their knowledge in quantum mechanics, and use Australia’s premier high performance computing infrastructure. The project is primarily supervised by Dr Paul Fraser from UNSW/ADFA. It is a stepping stone to further work in the field, and students are encouraged to join the academic communities of two Group of Eight universities and thus develop their professional practice.

No specific background knowledge is required beyond undergraduate quantum mechanics.