{"id":1231435,"date":"2025-02-23T07:34:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-23T12:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1231435"},"modified":"2025-02-23T07:34:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T12:34:00","slug":"unexpected-shape-of-lead-208-nucleus-of-may-force-scientists-to-reevaluate-atomic-nuclei-models","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1231435","title":{"rendered":"Unexpected Shape of Lead-208 Nucleus of May Force Scientists to Reevaluate Atomic Nuclei Models"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>&#8220;An international research collaboration led by the University of Surrey&#8217;s Nuclear Physics Group has overturned the long-standing belief that the atomic nucleus of lead-208 is perfectly spherical,&#8221; reports Phys.org. <\/p>\n<p>They add that the discovery &#8220;challenges fundamental assumptions about nuclear structure and has far-reaching implications for our understanding of how the heaviest elements are formed in the universe&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>[A] new study published in Physical Review Letters used a high-precision experimental probe to examine its shape and found that rather than being perfectly spherical, the nucleus of lead-208 is slightly elongated, resembling a rugby ball (prolate spheroid)&#8230; Using the state-of-the-art GRETINA gamma-ray spectrometer at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, U.S., scientists bombarded lead atoms with high-speed particle beams accelerated to 10% of the speed of light \u2014 equivalent to circling the Earth every second. The interactions created unique gamma-ray fingerprints of the properties of excited quantum states in lead-208 nuclei \u2014 in other words, the nuclei were energized \u2014 which, in turn, were used to determine its shape. <\/p>\n<p>Theoretical physicists, including those at the Surrey Nuclear Theory Group, are now re-examining the models used to describe atomic nuclei, as the experiments suggest that nuclear structure is far more complex than previously thought.<\/p>\n<div class=\"share_submission\" style=\"position:relative;\">\n<a class=\"slashpop\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/home?status=Unexpected+Shape+of+Lead-208+Nucleus+of+May+Force+Scientists+to+Reevaluate+Atomic+Nuclei+Models%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fscience.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F23%2F0051225%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/twitter_icon_large-242.png\"><\/a><br \/>\n<a class=\"slashpop\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fscience.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F23%2F0051225%2Funexpected-shape-of-lead-208-nucleus-of-may-force-scientists-to-reevaluate-atomic-nuclei-models%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/facebook_icon_large-157.png\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/science.slashdot.org\/story\/25\/02\/23\/0051225\/unexpected-shape-of-lead-208-nucleus-of-may-force-scientists-to-reevaluate-atomic-nuclei-models?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&amp;utm_medium=feed\">Read more of this story<\/a> at Slashdot.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/slashdot.org\/slashdot-it.pl?op=discuss&amp;id=23617989&amp;smallembed=1\" style=\"height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;An international research collaboration led by the University of Surrey&#8217;s Nuclear Physics Group has overturned the long-standing belief that the atomic nucleus of lead-208 is perfectly spherical,&#8221; reports Phys.org. They add that the discovery &#8220;challenges fundamental assumptions about nuclear structure &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1231435\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101,44,110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1231435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-slashdot","category-technology","category-unfiltered-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1231435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1231435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1231435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1231435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}