Physicists Utilize Knowledge of Charged Particles to Simulate Element Formation in Stars

November 27, 2023

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by Tracey Peake, North Carolina State University

A collaborative research effort between North Carolina State University and Michigan State University presents a new approach to modeling low-energy nuclear reactions, crucial to the formation of star elements. This study paves the way for calculating interactions of charged nucleons.

The research find is published in the Physical Review Letters.

Understanding how atomic nuclei—a group of protons and neutrons, collectively referred to as nucleons—merge to form larger compound nuclei brings us closer to grasping how stars form elements. Because it is challenging to measure nuclear interactions experimentally, physicists simulate these systems using numerical lattices. This lattice, acting as a symbolic box, lets physicists calculate the properties of a nucleus.

Prior models could not predict properties controlling low-energy reactions related to multiple proton clusters' emergence. These low-energy reactions are critical to star-bound element formations.

'The 'strong nuclear force' combining protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei and the repelling electromagnetic force between protons significantly influence the nucleus' structure and dynamics,' explains Sebastian König, NC State's physics assistant professor, and this research's corresponding author.

Low energy regions where potent processes synthesize world-assembling elements find this force particularly strong. Predicting these interactions, however, is a theoretical challenge, says König.

Thus, König and fellow researchers approached the problem inversely, examining the compound nuclei—the result of reactions—and deducing the properties and energies that led to them.

'Our focus wasn't on calculating reactions, but rather the end product's structure,' König says. 'As the box's size changes, so do simulations and results, helping us extract determinative parameters for charged particle interactions.'

'The formula's derivation was unusually difficult,' Hang Yu, NC State graduate student and the study's first author, admits, 'but the final result is quite elegant and remarkably useful.'

Using the information gathered, the team formulated an equation and tested its verity against standard calculations before declaring it ready for future use.

'This preliminary work guides us on how to analyze a simulation to extract data for enhancing nuclear reaction predictions,' König says. 'Understanding the cosmos demands looking at its smallest pieces—here we focus on the minutia to enhance our grasp of the larger whole.'

Dean Lee, a professor of physics and theoretical nuclear science department head at Michigan State University's Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, co-authored the work with NC State graduate student Hang Yu, the paper's first author. Lee, previously at NC State, still holds an adjunct physics professor position at the institution.

Journal information: Physical Review Letters

Source: North Carolina State University