Nuclear reactions as a research area encompass the experimental and theoretical study of processes in which atomic nuclei interact and transform, including fusion, fission, scattering, and transfer reactions. This field investigates reaction mechanisms, cross sections, energy spectra, and angular distributions, as well as the structure and stability of nuclei formed or probed in these processes. Research involves accelerator-based experiments, detector development, reaction modeling, and applications to nuclear astrophysics, reactor physics, nuclear data evaluation, and isotope production. It also includes the development and benchmarking of reaction theories such as optical models, direct reaction formalisms, and compound nucleus approaches.
Scientists have directly observed muonic molecules in resonance states for the first time, using a high-resolution X-ray detector, a new Science Advances study reports.
Plasma Physics
Apr 17, 2026
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44
Nearly every object we interact with in our lives has a mass, but where does this mass come from? Modern physics says matter acquires its mass from interaction with a physical vacuum—it is not an empty space, but contains ...
General Physics
Apr 7, 2026
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141
A Mississippi State physicist has produced a direct laboratory measurement of a key nuclear reaction believed to occur during explosive bursts on neutron stars. These bursts forge heavier elements—the building blocks of planets ...
Astronomy
Mar 31, 2026
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25
In the air people breathe, the water on Earth, the stars in the sky and more, atoms are the building blocks that make up the universe. Understanding the structure of the atomic nucleus is crucial for research with implications ...
Condensed Matter
Mar 31, 2026
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74
Thermonuclear reaction rates power the models that explain how stars live, explode and create the elements. A new study co-authored by NC State faculty member Richard Longland provides a comprehensive, statistically grounded ...
Astronomy
Mar 16, 2026
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22
A team of physicists from the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators, has identified the dominant physical mechanism responsible for energy release in the nuclear ...
General Physics
Feb 9, 2026
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61
Researchers have reported new experimental results addressing the origin of rare proton-rich isotopes heavier than iron, called p-nuclei. Led by Artemis Tsantiri, then-graduate student at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams ...
General Physics
Jan 22, 2026
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60
A research team from the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has directly measured the masses of two highly unstable atomic nuclei, phosphorus-26 and sulfur-27. These precise measurements ...
Astronomy
Dec 5, 2025
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27
A joint research team has made important progress in the field of photoneutron cross section measurement. The team proposed a substitution measurement method that avoids the use of expensive and hard-to-prepare high-purity ...
General Physics
Nov 23, 2025
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39
Researchers from the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have reported new experimental results that advance our understanding of reaction dynamics and exotic nuclear structures of weakly ...
General Physics
Nov 20, 2025
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20
