Nuclear and Particle Physics Research
Making Use of OHIO's Edwards Accelerator and National Labs
Nuclear and Particle Physics Research
At the scale of nuclei, about 10,000 times smaller than atoms, we encounter the strong force that holds together protons and neutrons in the nucleus and also holds together quarks inside the proton and neutron. The strong force is about 100 times bigger than the electric forces that bind electrons to atoms, and so it requires powerful accelerators to study it.
The Edwards Accelerator Lab, located on campus at ĢƵ University, and national accelerator laboratories are used by faculty and students to study the properties of both the strong and the weak nuclear forces. Whether trying to discover new types of particles or learning what goes on inside supernova explosions, the goal of this research is to learn about the fundamental forces that bind nuclei and particles.
Faculty
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Carl BruneNuclear Astrophysics, Weakly-Bound States of NucleiDr. Brune primarily focuses on nuclear astrophysics, the study of nuclear physics in astrophysics: from the big bang to stars to supernovae. Other experiments study the structure and fundamental interactions of nuclei. He is also interested in using nuclear physics techniques for practical applications such as medical physics and cargo screening.
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Gang ChenExperimental Condensed Matter, Disordered MaterialsDr. Chen uses brilliant X-rays generated by relativistic electrons from synchrotron radiation to study atomic and nanoscale structures of disordered materials. For his research, he utilizes the synchrotron x-ray facilities at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois and the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York.
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Chaden DjalaliExperimental Nuclear and Particle Physics
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Christian DrischlerTheoretical Nuclear Physics, Chiral Effective Field Theory, and Structure of Neutron StarsDr. Drischler's research interests include: neutron stars, equation of state of neutron-rich matter, chiral effective field theory, many-body perturbation theory, Bayesian methods for uncertainty quantification, emulators for nuclear physics and model (order) reduction, and computational physics.
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Charlotte ElsterFew-Nucleon Systems, Effective Field Theories and Computational PhysicsDr. Elster's current research focuses on nuclei made up of few protons and neutrons. To unveil the mechanisms through which few-body systems are built, Elster employs high-performance computing methods using powerful supercomputers consisting of hundreds of processors to carry out complex modeling tasks.
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Justin FrantzExperimental Nuclear and Particle PhysicsDr. Frantz conducts research at the Brookhaven Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider to study exotic states and interactions of matter that are governed primarily by the theory of the Strong force that holds not only protons together within the atomic nucleus but also smaller particles called quarks and gluons together within the protons themselves.
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Paul KingExperimental Particle Physics and Parity Violation in Electron Scattering
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Thomas MasseyExperimental Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Structure Studies, Measurement of (z,n) Reaction
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Cody ParkerExperimental Nuclear Physics, Neutron-Induced Reactions & ApplicationsDr. Parker is a low-energy nuclear physics experimentalist. Her current research interests include: neutron-induced reactions and spectroscopy, experimental nuclear structure physics, radiation damage studies, and detector development and characterization.
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Daniel PhillipsTheoretical Nuclear Physics and Chiral Effective Field TheoryPhilips develops theories of the atomic nucleus. A particular current interest is investigating nuclei which have a substantial neutron excess. Such nuclei tend to form an extended "halo" of neutrons around a central core of neutrons and protons. He is also an expert on applications of Bayes' theorem to nuclear physics. Bayesian methods enable analyses of “model uncertainty” and so aid in predicting when models fail.
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Gabriela PopaTheoretical Nuclear PhysicsDr. Popa's scholarly research focuses on low energy nuclear structure of heavy nuclei and nuclear densities of light nuclei.
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Andrea RichardTheoretical Nuclear Physics and Structure of Neutron StarsDr. Richard is a low-energy nuclear physics experimentalist. Her current research interests include: statistical nuclear physics, experimental nuclear astrophysics, synthesis of heavy elements in the universe, neutron-capture cross section measurements for radioactive nuclei, applied nuclear physics, and nuclear structure.
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Julie RocheExperimental Particle Physics: Hadron StructureAn experimentalist, Dr. Roche focuses on the study of the internal structure of protons and neutrons governed by the Strong force. She have studied the limits of our understanding of these four forces by looking for Physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics in the precision frontier.
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Alexander VoinovExperimental Nuclear Physics and Nuclear StructureDr. Voinov studies the problems related to low-energy nuclear physics and are connected to the experimental study of the nuclear level density in a wide excitation energy range and the γ-strength functions for energies below the particle separation threshold. These problems represent a difficult experimental task.
Associated Faculty and Staff
- Dr. Heather Crawford: Low-energy Nuclear Structure of Exotic Nuclei, Gamma-ray Spectroscopy and Gamma-ray Detection Arrays
- Dr. Adam Fritsch: Stellar Nucleosynthesis and Proton Evaporation
- Dr. David Ingram: Atomic Collisions in Solids, Thin Film Deposition and Analysis
- Dr. Steven Grimes: Experimental Nuclear Physics and Level Densities of Nuclei
- Dr. Madappa Prakash: Theoretical Nuclear Physics and Structure of Neutron Stars
Institutes & Facilities
Institute of Nuclear & Particle Physics
The INPP brings coherence to several successful but diverse nuclear and particle physics activities taking place within the Department of Physics and Astronomy and coordinates activities of both theoretical and experimental subatomic physics.
Physics & Astronomy Research Facilities & Labs
In the News
Bringing AI and Machine Learning to Nation's Researchers
Physicists are advancing the frontiers of sub-atomic research—from the way nuclei are put together to the life cycle of stars—by developing artificial intelligence (AI) and computational tools to accelerate both theoretical and experimental research.
OHIO Hosts International Event for Nuclear & Astrophysics Researchers
The 2025 IReNA-CeNAM Frontiers in Nuclear Astrophysics Meeting brought together graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, research scientists and professors from national laboratories and universities around the world.
Christian Drischler Receives 2024 NSF CAREER Award
Through funding from the award, Drischler will advance the scientific community's understanding of theoretical nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics.
Science Cafe: ‘Spilling the Beans on a Whole Latte Elements’
Dr. Andrea Richard discusses the current understanding of the origin of heavy elements in the universe, the crucial role played by nuclear physics, and the women who made nuclear astrophysics.