Chronicle of the discovery of the back-bending phenomenon in atomic nuclei : a personal recollection 50 years on
(2021) In European Physical Journal H 46(1).- Abstract
A chronicle describing the historical context and the development of ideas and experiments leading to the discovery of the back-bending phenomenon in rapidly rotating atomic nuclei some 50 years ago is presented. The moment of inertia of some atomic nuclei increases anomalously at a certain rotational frequency, revealing important clues to our understanding of nuclear structure. I highlight the decisive interactions and contacts between experimentalists and theorists, which created the right environment, allowing for the revelation of an undetected phenomenon in Nature. Finally, I reflect on the key points allowing for the discovery and particularly point to the importance of systematic surveys, which in this case investigated the... (More)
A chronicle describing the historical context and the development of ideas and experiments leading to the discovery of the back-bending phenomenon in rapidly rotating atomic nuclei some 50 years ago is presented. The moment of inertia of some atomic nuclei increases anomalously at a certain rotational frequency, revealing important clues to our understanding of nuclear structure. I highlight the decisive interactions and contacts between experimentalists and theorists, which created the right environment, allowing for the revelation of an undetected phenomenon in Nature. Finally, I reflect on the key points allowing for the discovery and particularly point to the importance of systematic surveys, which in this case investigated the energy levels in heavy nuclei of a large sample of elements, as well as to the accuracy of the measurements of the ground state levels made at the time.
(Less)
- author
- Ryde, Hans LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021-12-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- European Physical Journal H
- volume
- 46
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 23
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85114038116
- ISSN
- 2102-6459
- DOI
- 10.1140/epjh/s13129-021-00023-8
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Funding Information: I thank the referees for useful comments and Felix Ryde for his generous and insightful support. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).
- id
- f341b63a-b106-42dd-b7fc-db992f999d7f
- date added to LUP
- 2022-05-12 08:54:53
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 15:20:15
@article{f341b63a-b106-42dd-b7fc-db992f999d7f,
abstract = {{<p>A chronicle describing the historical context and the development of ideas and experiments leading to the discovery of the back-bending phenomenon in rapidly rotating atomic nuclei some 50 years ago is presented. The moment of inertia of some atomic nuclei increases anomalously at a certain rotational frequency, revealing important clues to our understanding of nuclear structure. I highlight the decisive interactions and contacts between experimentalists and theorists, which created the right environment, allowing for the revelation of an undetected phenomenon in Nature. Finally, I reflect on the key points allowing for the discovery and particularly point to the importance of systematic surveys, which in this case investigated the energy levels in heavy nuclei of a large sample of elements, as well as to the accuracy of the measurements of the ground state levels made at the time.</p>}},
author = {{Ryde, Hans}},
issn = {{2102-6459}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{12}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{European Physical Journal H}},
title = {{Chronicle of the discovery of the back-bending phenomenon in atomic nuclei : a personal recollection 50 years on}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epjh/s13129-021-00023-8}},
doi = {{10.1140/epjh/s13129-021-00023-8}},
volume = {{46}},
year = {{2021}},
}