Imaging Nuclear Shapes by Smashing them to Smithereens
Department of Energy, Office of ScienceResearchers demonstrated a new way to reveal the shapes of atomic nuclei. The method analyzes the flow and momentum of particles from high-energy collisions of nuclei. Those flow patterns are linked to the shape of nuclear matter created in these collisions, and the shape of the nuclear matter is in turn determined by the shapes of the colliding nuclei. The researchers compared observed flow patterns with flow models for different sizes and shapes of melted matter to reconstruct the highly deformed shapes of colliding uranium nuclei. STAR Collaboration