Friday, Mar 24, 2006

Prof. Alejandro Frank, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM,

"Nuclear Forecasting as Pattern Recognition: Can we predict Nuclear Masses?"

2:00 pm in room P-148

Abstract:  The mass of an atomic nucleus is its most basic property. Though great progress has been made in the challenging task of measuring the mass of short-lived nuclei in regions far from stability, theoretical models are still needed to predict properties of many of these exotic nuclei with the high precision required in astrophysical applications. A novel approach to predict nuclear masses based on a pattern recognition technique is discussed. A pattern is built by taking the differences between masses as measured and as predicted by a simple model which considers the nucleus as a dense, charged liquid drop. The method is based on a Fourier transform deconvolution technique called CLEAN, widely used in radioastronomy. The implications for the possible existence of islands of stability in the region of superheavy elements are discussed. We are currently searching for ways to optimize the predictive power of the model.