For decades, the single neutron transfer reaction (d,p) has been used as one of the fundamental tools for studying the properties of nuclei throughout the periodic table. Its selectivity and ease of interpretation have made it one of the most heavily used reactions for the determination of quantum numbers, and for probing the wave functions of single-particle states in nuclei. With the advent of radioactive beams, interest in simple transfer reactions such as (d,p) has been renewed. I will review the utility of such reactions, and discuss some current applications in the context of the modern theoretical understanding of nuclear structure and in nuclear astrophysics. Finally, I will discuss two recent examples of studies of the (d,p) reaction carried out with radioactive beams to study the light nuclei 9Li and 7He, and present the challenges and opportunities that await in this new domain.
ANL Physics Division Seminar Schedule