Lecturer : Toshitaka Kajino (NAOJ, Tokyo Univ., Beihang Univ.)
Subject 1: Big-Bang cosmology and primordial nucleosynthesis
Contents 1: Primordial nucleosynthesis (BBN) in the first three minutes of hot Big-Bang expansion is a unique window into the elementary processes of the early Universe. Although the success of BBN and the discovery of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies provide an important clue to understand fundamental interactions of elementary particles and nuclei, we still confront several unanswered questions of the origin of light elements in the context of nuclear structure and reactions and in the standard cosmology. We will discuss nuclear and particle processes in the BBN and their connection to CMB physics and cosmology.
Subject 2: Neutrino astrophysics and supernova explosion
Contents 2: Neutrinos are the tiny weakly interacting particles, and they play a fundamental roles in cosmic expansion, large-scale structure formation, stellar evolution, explosive nucleosynthesis, radioactive decay of rare isotopes, etc. Although the unified theory of electromagnetic and weak interactions enjoys a success, nature of flavor oscillations among three active neutrinos (which include vacuum oscillation, matter effect, and collective oscillation) has not yet been understood very well. We will discuss how to understand neutrino oscillations in the nucleosynthetic method of nuclear physics, based on the theoretical modeling of explosive nucleosyntheis in supernovae and in the light of laboratory neutrino experiments.
Subject 3: Origin of heavy elements and rare isotopes
Contents 3: Detection of gravitational wave, gamma-ray burst, optical and near infrared emission, etc. from GW170817 opened a new era of multi-messenger astronomy and nuclear astrophysics, making a renaissance in exotic nuclear physics. We need many unknown nuclear properties such as masses, (n,g) reaction cross sections, beta-decay rates and fission dynamics on extremely neutron-rich rare isotopes in order to seek for the origin of heavy elements. We will discuss an impact of neutron star merger GW170817 and supernova nucleosynthesis on nuclear physics and neutrino oscillation physics.
