Breakup and Fusion of Stable and Radioactive Nuclei

The imminent availability of intense accelerated radioactive isotope beams will revolutionise nuclear physics, and its applications in astrophysics and medical physics. Using novel concepts we showed that breakup of such weakly bound nuclei severely affects the nuclear fusion process (and products), and have now developed a framework to relate breakup and fusion. Combining these discoveries with new efficient equipment, and an experimental program of cleverly-chosen, precision measurements at the ANU, we will unravel the complex dynamical interplay between breakup and fusion. We aim to develop a new unified model, allowing prediction of the products of nuclear collisions, urgently needed for research with next-generation radioactive beams.