Title: Symmetry Energy of Neutron-Rich Matter and its Astrophysical Impacts

Speaker: 李保安 教授
Institute: Texas A&M University-Commerce, USA
Time: 2017.06.29（Thursday） 10:00
Place: Physics Building 573, Haiyun Campus, Xiamen University
Abstract: To pin down the Equation of State (EOS) of neutron-rich nucleonic matter and understand its transport properties has long been a major science driver for both nuclear physics and astrophysics. Nuclear symmetry energy encoding the energy cost of converting protons into neutrons in nuclear medium has been the most uncertain part of the EOS of dense neutron-rich nucleonic matter. The magnitude and density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy affect the radii and cooling rates of neutron stars as well as the strain amplitude and frequencies of gravitational waves from spiraling neutron star binaries. Nuclear reactions especially those induced by highly neutron-rich radioactive beams, provide a unique means to probe experimentally the symmetry energy of neutron-rich matter in terrestrial laboratories. In this talk, I will discuss the main issues concerning the density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy, its astrophysical impacts and examples of current efforts to constrain it experimentally in terrestrial laboratories.

Introduction: Dr. Bao-An Li is a Regents Professor of Physics at Texas A&M University-Commerce and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Dr. Li received his Ph.D in physics from Michigan State University in 1991. He held research, faculty and administrative positions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the U.S., Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark, Hahn-Meitner Institute in Germany, Texas A&M University and Arkansas State University before joining Texas A&M University-Commerce where he served as the Head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy from 2006 to 2011. His research interest is in understanding the dynamics of heavy-ion reactions from low to relativistic energies as well as the Equation of State of neutron-rich nucleonic matter and its astrophysical applications. More information about his research can be found at
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-0gnvt4AAAAJ