Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Discovery of four new atomic nuclei

Researchers from the Manipal Centre of Natural Sciences at Manipal University, Karnataka, with collaborators from GSI, Germany, have succeeded in discovering four new atomic nuclei to be added to the Chart of the Nuclides. This study was carried out under the ambit of the Manipal University-GSI-Giessen collaboration which focuses on developing new methods of synthesis for the super heavy elements. The newly discovered, exotic nuclei are one isotope each of the heavy elements berkelium and neptunium and two isotopes of the element americium.


HM Devaraja, PhD student at MCNS participated in experimental work along with an international team of researchers at GSI.

Other participants included scientists from Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA and the joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia. The results are published in Physics Letters B.