Ania Kwiatkowski Colloquium

Fri. Mar. 13 12:30 PM - Fri. Mar. 13 01:20 PM
Location: 3M63

Ania Kwiatkowski, Research Scientist, TRIUMF Vancouver, BC

Ion Trap for Atomic & Nuclear Science (TITAN Group)

A single radioactive ion and the universe: Studies at TITAN

The atomic mass provides a snapshot of the total interaction among every constituent particle. This manifestation of the nuclear force reveals the evolution of nuclear shells (analogous to electron shells) and exotic structures in radioactive nuclides. Mass allows us to explore the limits of nuclear existence. On a smaller scale, we can lay the nuclear Moreover, since mass dictates the pathways accessible in stellar burning, it provides insight into the synthesis of elements and how we came to be made from star dust. At the other the highest-precision mass measurements are critical inputs into rigorous tests of the Standard Model. The necessary precision is achieved through ion-trapping techniques.

In an ion trap, a single ion (or a whole cloud) can be manipulated, stored, and measured with increasingly sophisticated and exquisite control. As such they are my tool of choice at TRIUMF’s Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN), where ground-state properties are measured in the fraction of a second these radioactive ions live. I will introduce ion traps, provide a selection of recent science highlights, and give an outlook for the ARIEL-TRIUMF era.