PhD thesis in nuclear astrophysics (STELLA experiment) M/F

The Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert CURIEN (IPHC), a reserach facility in conjunction of CNRS and the Université de Strasbourg (UMR7178), is a mutidisciplinary laboratory where research teams of different scientific background (ecology, physiology and ethnology, chemistry and sub-atomic physics) develop high level research programs with strong links to scientific instrumentation. The IPHC is organised in four departments and hosts 393 employees in total, amongst them 257 with permanent contacts (119 staff scientists and associated professors, 138 engineers and technicians), 46 fixed term contracts and 102 PhDs.

The PhD work will be centered at the STELLA team (DNE group) of the Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien Strasbourg (IPHC, UMR 7178) on the Campus Cronenbourg of the CNRS Strasbourg.

The team consists of a professor, three staff scientists, two engineers and one PhD.

Title: Mesuring cross sections for understanding stellar fusion

The fusion of two nuclei is one of the principal mechanisms of stellar nucleosynthesis of the elements. In fact, the stability and energy output of such giant objects like stars depend sensitively on the reaction probabilities between tiny objects like the cores of atoms. Among those, light nuclei are of particular interest as they rule the beginning of the evolution of a star on its long pathway synthesizing heavier nuclei. In this stage of stellar evolution, only limited abundance inventory is available so that only a small number of reactions dominate the fate of the star. During carbon burning, these reactions are 12C+12C and 12C+16O that happen to be alpha conjugated nuclei. Alpha clusters are highly bound, energetically favourable and can reveal themselves in resonances of the reaction probability. Clear knowledge from fusion measurements hence yields valuable input for understanding the nature of stars and of the inner composition of the elements around us, like carbon or oxygen.
The successful candidate will join the STELLA (STELar LAboratory) team at IPHC Strasbourg and will participate to the experiment assembly, testing and data taking at Andromède, Orsay, with subsequent data analysis of the decay of the 12C+12C and 12C+16O compounds. This work comprises the characterization of silicon detectors on a test bench and through simulation studies for developing an analysis strategy for exclusive reaction channel selection. This information is used for extracting of the average particle energy, timing and angular momentum with calculation of fusion cross sections and S-factors. The student will furthermore be given the opportunity to participate in fusion experiments in France and abroad and will be encouraged to present the results to the international nuclear astrophysics community.
The candidate should be proficient in nuclear physics with knowledge of astrophysics. The position includes handling and classifying silicon detectors where experience with experimenting are needed. The analysis and the simulation will be carried out with ROOT and Geant4, respectively.
Experience with these software tools or C++ coding are requested, knowledge of bash scripting is a plus. We encourage the application of curious candidates who want to take the initiative to develop a project with a high degree autonomy. We therefor provide support in a well established multi disciplinary team at the intersection between nuclear physics and astrophysics.