In our group, there exist many possibilities for students to perform projects, either as a "korte stage" or as "afstuderen". Projects can be defined in the fields of nuclear/hadronic physics, in the field of fundamental symmetries, in nuclear and particle astrophysics, in atomic physics, and more. Here some examples are listed. However, if students are interested, they should get in touch in order to discuss the possibilities in more detail.
Atomic parity and time-reversal violation
High-precision measurements on heavy atoms in traps offer unique tests of the Standard Model and even possibilities to search for new physics. Parity violation experiments allow the measurements of the weak charge of the atomic nucleus. This weak charge is sensitive to certain extensions of the Standard Model (e.g. involving additional Z-bosons). The search for electric dipole moments of atoms is one of the most promising ways to detect time-reversal violation outside the Standard Model. Parity and time-reversal violation are predicted to be significantly enhanced in certain atoms. In this broad field, many outstanding theoretical issues exist suitable for projects in which students can participate. For instance, it has been proposed that measuring the weak charge for a chain of difference isotopes of cesium or francium can significantly decrease the remaining uncertainties in the theory of atomic parity violation. Another example is the suggestion that the radium atom exhibits spectacular enhancements of parity and time-reversal violation. The specific sensitivity to P- and T-odd nuclear and electon-nucleon interactions and the predictions of Standard Model extensions (e.g. supersymmetric models) have to be understood.
Time-reversal violation in beta-decay
An important experiment envisaged for TRImP is the measurement of the D-correlation in beta-decay. This involves measuring the nuclear spin and the momenta of both the beta-particle and the recoiling nucleus. The D-correlation is odd under time reversal, and thus is related to the issue of CP-violation. The contribution of the Kobayashi-Maskawa complex phase in the Standard Model to the D-correlation is extremely small, making the D-correlation sensitive to sources of CP-violation outside the Standard Model (e.g. specific right-handed currents). The goal of the project is to make a start with the study of T-odd correlations in beta-decay for the (trappable) nuclei of interest to TRImP (in particular, 19Ne and 21Na), to address electromagnetic final-state interactions that can mimic time-reveral violation, and to investigate the sensitivity to certain proposed extensions of the Standard Model.
Physics of compact stars
