Spitzenforschungs-Projekt von Goethe-Universität Frankfurt und TU Darmstadt

Was passiert, wenn Neutronensterne miteinander verschmelzen und dabei Gravitationswellen und schwerste chemische Elemente produzieren? Dies werden Physikerinnen und Physiker der TU Darmstadt und der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt in ihrem Forschungsverbund ELEMENTS gemeinsam erforschen. Das Projekt wird im Rahmen der Förderlinie „Clusterprojekte“ des Landes Hessen zur Vorbereitung auf die nächste Runde der Bund-Länder-Exzellenzstrategie bis 2025 mit 7,9 Millionen Euro gefördert.

Research team confirms a new nuclear property predicted by theory

Scientists are able to selectively knockout nucleons and preformed nuclear clusters from atomic nuclei using high-energy proton beams. In an experiment performed at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP) in Osaka in Japan, the existence of preformed helium nuclei at the surface of several tin isotopes could be identified in a reaction. The results confirm a theory, which predicts the formation of helium clusters in low-density nuclear matter and at the surface of heavy nuclei. A research team, lead by scientists from TU Darmstadt and the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy-Ion Research, and from the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science, discuss the new findings in a contribution to the latest issue of the journal “Science”.

Scientists simulate large region of the chart of nuclides

Novel calculations have enabled the study of nearly 700 isotopes between helium and iron, showing which nuclei can exist and which cannot. In an article published in Physical Review Letters, scientists from TU Darmstadt, the University of Washington, the Canadian laboratory TRIUMF, and the University of Mainz report how they simulated for the first time using innovative theoretical methods a large region of the chart of nuclides based on the theory of the strong interaction.

TU spin-off MagnoTherm Solutions wants to revolutionise the refrigeration industry

The product ideas have huge market potential, the technology behind them is disruptive: For its climate-friendly and sustainable cooling systems, MagnoTherm Solutions replaces harmful gases with a solid material whose cooling effect is controlled by magnetic fields. The commercial application of this long-researched material is a novelty in the refrigeration industry. The start-up wants to enter the fiercely competitive industry as quickly as possible with “plug-in refrigerated displays” for the retail trade.

Researchers at TU Darmstadt are evaluating core samples taken at a depth of five kilometres for a geothermal project

A drilling rig at the United Downs Deep Geothermal Project drilled a borehole to a depth of 4900 metres into the granite beneath Cornwall a few months ago. The 19 core samples that were extracted – the deepest that have ever been taken on the mainland in Great Britain – are now at TU Darmstadt. Researchers at the Institute of Applied Geosciences are investigating them to discover how sustainable and efficient geothermal energy can be produced in the project in Cornwall.

TU physicists detect atomic nuclei with unusual symmetry

Physicists headed by Professor Norbert Pietralla from the Institute of Nuclear Physics at the Technical University of Darmstadt have developed a method to very precisely differentiate between the states of atomic nuclei. This has led them to make a spectacular discovery.