Lecture by Dr Stefano Panebianco (CEA-Saclay)

“Nuclear Fission as a source of energy”

Friday July 26^th at 15:00

Location: DIAS, 10 Burlington Road, Dublin 4 (Admission is free and no booking is required)

Title: How does an atomic nucleus break in pieces? Nuclear reactions: from nuclear fission to spallation

Abstract: The atomic nucleus is one of the most complex objects to be studied, both from the theoretical and experimental point of view. It involves a full description of the N-body problem where the interaction, a priori not known from first principles, has to describe at the same time the observed nuclear structure and a very large set of collective behaviors. Some nuclei do not like at all to be broken when hit by a projectile. On the contrary, others very much like to split into two or more pieces sometimes they may even break spontaneously, without any external energy input. Why nuclei split? How do they do it? Trying to answer to these basic questions is the object of hundreds of physicist around the world. The study of  nuclear reaction gives access to a deeper understanding of nuclear structure and dynamics and has a strong impact in the society since it provides a reliable foundation for the  engineering of present and future nuclear systems. We will try to have a look inside this strange world and to describe the features of these complex objects, known since almost a century but still impossible to be described by a unique and fundamental theory.