About me:
I am a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia where I work in the Theory Department at TRIUMF under the mentorship of Dr. Petr Navratil. My research involves building up the nucleus from the constituent nucleons and the forces between them. A microscopic description allows us to make accurate predictions of nuclear structure, decays and reactions which can then be used in astrophysical models or searches for beyond the Standard Model physics.
Seminar Title:
Ab initio calculation of proton capture on 7Li and the X17 anomaly
Seminar Date:
Jan. 17th, 2023
Abstract:
The discrepancies between theoretical predictions and observations motivate improved theory techniques or may provide evidence for new physics. Predictive models of nuclei are needed as input for experimental tests and for astrophysical models.
In this talk, I will examine the nuclear reactions 7Li(p,y)8Be and 7Li(p,e+e-)8Be from an ab initio perspective.Using chiral nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon forces as input, the no-core shell model with continuum technique allows us to obtain an accurate description of both 8Be bound states and p+7Li scattering states.
The energy freed up by capture is enough to produce electron-positron pairs. The angular distribution of these pairs will be different if the intermediate particle is not the photon, for example, the axion or new vector or axial vector boson. Computing the standard model background and comparing experimental data with new decay modes is necessary to support or rule out new physics in the ATOMKI anomaly (which posits the existence of a new boson with a mass of 17 MeV).