Physicists Calculate Exactly When Atomic Nuclei Become Unstable

Jülich, 8 December 2017 – When atomic nuclei contain too many neutrons, they break apart. An international team of physicists has now developed a breakthrough method to calculate the exact point at which the nuclei become unstable. The results allow more detailed insights into the structure of atomic nuclei, which scientists hope to use to understand more about the creation of the elements after the Big Bang. In addition to the Jülich Nuclear Physics Institute, the universities of Bonn and Bochum as well as various US universities were involved in the study. The calculations were performed on the Jülich supercomputer JUQUEEN. The study has been published in Physical Review Letters.

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