Physicists see nuclear wobbling in one isotope of gold

Her work was highlighted recently in Nature.

Sensharma worked with Umesh Garg, professor in the Department of Physics, to develop an experiment using an isotope of gold to find out if the nucleus wobbled as predicted in a theoretical model developed by Stefan Frauendorf, also a professor in the Department of Physics.

"This, among other things, can help us understand how various processes happen in stellar environments, and how heavy elements, like gold, are formed in the universe."

In 2016 Frauendorf suggested an experiment on a gold nucleus after predicting the wobbling should exist.

"Professor Garg's group created an outstanding experiment to measure the distribution of radiation," Frauendorf said, noting that the experiment validated his prediction.

The work, funded by the U.S.

By observing the pattern and properties of the gamma rays, researchers can discover the structure of the nucleus -- and a wobbling nucleus has a very specific structure.

Initially, Garg and his collaborators planned to look for wobbling in 189Au, but ended up accidentally populating another isotope of gold, 187Au, more strongly.

"But that's how science goes; if we had done the experiment exactly as planned, I probably would have come back and said, this doesn't very much seem like what we're looking for."

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Materials provided by University of Notre Dame.