Milan Krtička and Stanislav Valenta lead a group that explores what happens inside atomic nuclei when they are hit by neutrons. With the help of extremely sensitive detectors, they measure the gamma rays released in these reactions and use them to piece together a picture of the nucleus’s inner structure.

Their focus is on highly excited nuclear states and on the “statistical behavior” of nuclei — in other words, how the chances of different processes shift as the energy increases. This kind of research is valuable not only for deepening our understanding of matter at its most fundamental level, but also for practical applications, from nuclear energy to explaining how the elements of the universe are formed.

The team works on major international experiments at CERN and Los Alamos, and they also devote themselves to teaching and mentoring students, opening the door for young scientists to enter the fascinating world of nuclear physics.

Contacts:

• Milan Krtička
• Stanislav Valenta

Subjects of interest:

• Statistical γ decay of nuclei
  Photon strength functions, Nuclear level densities, Fluctuations of partial radiative widths
• Neutron-induced reactions
  Neutron capture cross sections, Statistical properties of neutron resonances

International collaboration:

We are members of several international collaborations that were created around the important experimental facilities in Europe and USA:

• n_TOF (Neutron Time-of-Flight facility) installed at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

• DANCE (Detector for Advanced Neutron Capture Experiments) installed at Los Alamos Neutron Scattering Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, USA

• Nuclear Applications and Nuclear Data Group of prof. Marián Jandel at University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA

• GELINA (Neutron Time-of-Flight facility) installed at Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), Geel, Belgium