Fundamental research
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All the nuclei in the universe
For 15 billion years after the Big Bang, the stars have been transmuting atomic nuclei into new elements. The Earth is formed from the cooled ashes of these cosmic cauldrons. Only 291 types of atoms have survived of the thousands (7000 according to some models) which exist in the Universe, GANIL allows us to produce and study those which do not exist on Earth: the exotic nuclei. They are the key to our understanding of the origin and the structure of matter. More than 100 nuclei have now been discovered since the first beam became available in 1983; many hundreds more remain to be studied for the first time. |
New structures
| Each advance in the exploration into the limits of stability has revealed unexpected structures: exotic nuclei with a “halo” of neutrons or protons, nuclei in the form of molecules or even polymers, and new “magic numbers”, corresponding to especially stable regions observed for certain numbers of protons or neutrons. These reveal the existence of “shells” into which the protons and neutrons are organised. Changes in these magic numbers test our nuclear models. |
Matter in the cores of supernovae
Nuclei are formed of extremely dense matter. More than 99.9% of the observable mass is concentrated in the heart of the atom – the nucleus – the dimensions of which are less than one hundredth of a billionth of a millimetre! The nuclear material acts like a liquid, boiling at some 100 000 000 000 degrees, the temperature found at the core of the biggest stars when they explode into a supernova. Many experiments are dedicated to the study of the thermo-mechanical properties of nuclear matter.
Interdisciplinary research
At GANIL the ions are also used by the community collaborating with CIRIL. In this case, the beams of ions act as a perturbing element for studying matter. The study of atoms, molecules and small aggregates, the passage of ions through solids and the emission of electrons thus induced, nano-structures for nano-technologies, the effects of irradiation on matter and living cells, and the applications to nuclear materials and to new therapies are among the fields where GANIL is a leading facility. |
