EPJ A Highlight - The power of resolution in charge-exchange reactions

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Published on 25 October 2018

This review highlights the extraordinary power of the hadronic charge-exchange reactions at intermediate energies and at highest spectral resolution, as exemplified by the (n,p)-type (d,2He) and the (p,n)-type (³He,t) reactions. The review shows how areas of nuclear physics, astrophysics and particle physics alike benefit from such enhanced resolution. A major part of this review focuses on weak interaction processes in nuclei, especially on those, where neutrinos play a pivotal role like in solar neutrino induced reactions or in ßß decay. Unexpected and even surprising new features of nuclear structure are being unveiled as a result of high resolution. (See figure).

High resolution proves to be of equally high importance in areas where this would not immediately be expected. This is outlined in the chapters dealing with the neutron-neutron scattering length, with the properties of halo-nuclei or with the explosion dynamics of supernovae. Finally, the review portrays how high-resolution charge-exchange reactions connect to the symmetry energy and the nuclear equation-of-state or to processes involving ordinary capture of muons by nuclei. Clearly, the insight into the physics, which is made possible with high-resolution charge-exchange reactions, could not possibly be more diverse.