Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science
I am currently affiliated with a nuclear experimental research laboratory and have a particular interest in the properties of clusters within nuclei. Nuclei are composed of protons and neutrons, and in typical nuclei, the protons and neutrons are compactly grouped together, making it effective to consider the entire nucleus as a single droplet. However, sometimes protons and neutrons can locally bind strongly and form clusters.
The most notable example of clustering in nuclei is the alpha-condensed state. The alpha-condensed state is a special state where the nucleus is composed of multiple alpha particles, and all the alpha particles occupy the lowest orbital. Although alpha-condensed states do not exist stably, the second excited state of 12C is known to be a 3-alpha condensed state. It is believed that much of the carbon that makes up our bodies was produced via this state. Moreover, alpha-condensed states are expected to provide crucial information on the low-density side of the equation of state for nuclear matter, which is one of the ultimate goals in the field of nuclear physics. For this to happen, various alpha-condensed states such as 2-alpha, 3-alpha, 4-alpha, 5-alpha, and so on must exist, but condensed states beyond 4-alpha have yet to be discovered.
I aim to discover a 5-alpha condensed state in 20Ne, where the nucleus is composed of five alpha particles. To overcome various experimental challenges, I am working on the development of detectors and target cooling systems.