Nuclear Physics Programs for the Future Rare Isotope Beams Accelerator Facility in Korea

TL;DR

This paper discusses the nuclear physics research programs planned for Korea's future Rare Isotope Beams Accelerator, RAON, focusing on exploring exotic nuclei, nuclear structure, and astrophysical processes using advanced RIB techniques.

Contribution

It introduces the comprehensive experimental plans at RAON for studying nuclear structures and reactions of exotic nuclei near the drip lines with novel RIB capabilities.

Findings

Investigation of shell evolution in neutron-rich nuclei

Study of isospin symmetry in mirror nuclei

Analysis of continuum states in astrophysical reactions

Abstract

We present nuclear physics programs based on the planned experiments using rare isotope beams (RIBs) for the future Korean Rare Isotope Beams Accelerator facility; RAON. This ambitious facility has both an Isotope Separation On Line (ISOL) and fragmentation capability for producing RIBs and accelerating beams of wide range mass of nuclides with energies of a few to hundreds MeV per nucleon. Low energy RIBs at Elab = 5 to 20 MeV per nucleon are for the study of nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics toward and beyond the drip lines while higher energy RIBs produced by in-flight fragmentation with the re-accelerated ions from the ISOL enable to explore the neutron drip lines in intermediate mass regions. The planned programs have goals for investigating nuclear structures of the exotic nuclei toward and beyond the nucleon drip lines by addressing the following issues: how the shell structure evolves in areas of extreme proton to neutron imbalance; whether the isospin symmetry maintains in isobaric mirror nuclei at and beyond the drip lines, how two-proton radioactivity affects abundances of the elements, what the role of the continuum states including resonant states above the neutron- and proton-decay threshold in exotic nuclei is in astrophysical nuclear reaction processes, and how the nuclear reaction rates triggered by unbound proton-rich nuclei make an effect on rapid proton capture processes in a very hot stellar plasma.