10/21/2024
By David Joyner
Time: 4 – 5 p.m.
Location: Ball Hall 214
Speaker: Christopher Wrede, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Physics and
Astronomy, Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University (MSU)
Abstract: Thermonuclear stellar explosions on accreting compact objects are characterized by their observational signatures in the form of electromagnetic radiation and stardust. Modeling the underlying nuclear energy generation and nucleosynthesis is necessary to reproduce the observations. Sensitivity to poorly known rates of specific nuclear reactions involving radioactive reactants limits the accuracy of the models. These reactions are particularly challenging to measure directly but, fortunately, the nuclear data needed to construct the entrance and exit channels of these reactions can be revealed by detailed nuclear structure experiments. The Gaseous Detector with Germanium Tagging (GADGET) system was developed in two phases at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) to measure low-energy beta-delayed charged-particle emission branches and gamma rays. Results from the flagship experiment corresponding to each GADGET phase will be presented.
Bio: Chris Wrede is a professor in MSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. Chris was born in Vancouver, Canada, to Finnish parents, and began his research career in experimental nuclear astrophysics at Canada’s TRIUMF laboratory. In 2008, he obtained a PhD in Physics from Yale University based on work at the Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory in the same research field. Wrede’s research in Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics is carried out primarily at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams.