202 FRIB Graduate Brochure

Kei Minamisono
Research Senior Scientist and Adjunct Professor of
Physics
Keywords: Nuclear Structure, Charge Radius, Electromagnetic Moments, Laser
Spectroscopy, BECOLA
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• MS, Physics, Osaka University, 1996
• PhD, Physics, Osaka University, 1999
• Joined the laboratory in October 2004
• minamiso@frib.msu.edu
Research
What is the most fundamental property of a nucleus?
Arguably, the size or shape of the nucleus is one of
them. My current research interests is to determine the
size, shape or radius of a rare nucleus that occurs at/
near the existence limit of nuclei. The size of a nucleus
tells us how nucleons are distributed inside a nucleus.
It is essential to gain critical insights into the driving
nuclear forces of structural changes compared to stable
nuclei surrounding us. Therefore, the size of a nucleus
is driven by the nuclear equation of state (EoS). The
EoS determines the nature of dense nuclear matter,
like nucleus itself and neutron stars, which is not well
understood yet. It is remarkable that a terrestrial laser
spectroscopy experiment at the level of a nucleus
addresses astronomical properties of a neutron star.
Biography
I spent my childhood in a small town in Kyoto, a historical
city in Japan. There are a lot of shrines, temples, and
historic spots in my hometown, where I often visited for
a walk. After graduating high school in Kyoto, I went to
Osaka University for my graduate studies. I obtained
a Doctor of Science in nuclear physics in 1999, had two
postdoc positions in Osaka and TRIUMF in Canada, and
arrived at MSU in 2004. I am an experimentalist, and
like to see responses of nature to understand what is
happening. My current interest is to see the change
of nuclear size/shape toward the nucleon driplines
using laser-assisted precision techniques. This leads to
understandings of underlying nuclear forces and the
nuclear equation of state.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
A student in my group is typically responsible for
one development project and one laser spectroscopy
experiment where the student runs experiments, analyzes
data, interprets results and writes papers. Students will
have training opportunities to gain hands-on experience
in running laser spectroscopy experiments for nuclear
structure studies. We run laser spectroscopy experiments
online (with radioactive beams) as well as offline (with
stable beams produced locally). The experimental system
includes but is not limited to the operation of various laser
systems (CW and pulsed), the ion-beam production from
offline ion sources, the ion-beam transport, and the data
acquisition system.
Selected Publications
Implications of the 36Ca-36S and 38Ca-38Ar difference
in mirror charge radii on the neutron matter equation of
state, B. A. Brown et al., Phys. Rev. Research 2, 022035(R)
(2020).
Ground-state electromagnetic moments of 37Ca, A. Klose
et al., Phys. Rev. C 99, 061301(R) (2019).
Proton superfluidity and charge radii in proton-rich
calcium isotopes, A. J. Miller et al., Nature Physics 15, 432
(2019).
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