Henry R. Weller, Professor Emeritus  

Henry R. Weller

Office Location: TUNL, Durham, NC 27708
Email Address: weller@tunl.duke.edu
Web Page: http://www.tunl.duke.edu/Directory/Faculty/weller/

Specialties:
Experimental nuclear physics

Education:
Ph.D., Duke University, 1967

Research Categories: Experimental Nuclear Physics

Current projects: Low energy nuclear physics at TUNL, Photonuclear studies at HIGS (DFELl), International Collaboration to study the GDH Sum Rule in Mainz, Germany, International Collaboration to study nuclear structure using NRF at HIGS and Darmstadt, Germany

Research Description: Dr. Weller's research program at TUNL has been concentrated on using radiative capture reactions induced by polarized beams of protons and deuterons to study nuclear systems. These measurements have permitted him to observe the "D-state" in the 4He nucleus, which arises from the two body tensor force. This result changes the rate of the d+d fusion reaction by almost a factor of 50 at very low energies. This is of great interest in nuclear astrophysics. In the past year, he has focused on studies of (d,n) reactions using very low energy polarized beams. Such studies have not been previously performed. These reactions are of great interest in nuclear astrophysics. Dr. Weller is also working to help develop an intense beam of polarized gamma-rays using the facilities of the Duke Free Electron Laser Laboratory. (Dr. Weller is the Nuclear Physics Program Manager and is in charge of the development of the target room for the HIGS Project at DFELL). This beam will ultimately allow new experimental studies capable of testing fundamental aspects of Quantum Chromodynamics in the low-energy sector, such as the up-to-down quark mass ratio. The experiments at HIGS require very sophisticated targets and detector systems. Dr. Weller is leading the development of these. The first experiments using these setups and the upgraded HIGS facility are expected to begin in the spring of 2008.

Areas of Interest:
Nuclear Structure and Nuclear Reactions
Photonuclear reactions studied with gamma-rays
Nuclear Astrophysics

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

  1. Stave, S; Ahmed, MW; Antolak, AJ; Blackston, MA; Crowell, AS; Doyle, BL; Henshaw, SS; Howell, CR; Kingsberry, P; Perdue, BA; Rossi, P; Prior, RM; Spraker, MC; Weller, HR, Cross section measurements of the B10(d,n0)C11 reaction below 160 keV, Physical Review C - Nuclear Physics, vol. 77 no. 5 (May, 2008), pp. 054607, American Physical Society (APS) [org], [doi]  [abs].
  2. Ahmed, MW; Blackston, MA; Perdue, BA; Tornow, W; Weller, HR; Norum, B; Sawatzky, B; Prior, RM; Spraker, MC, Near-threshold deuteron photodisintegration: An indirect determination of the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule and forward spin polarizability (γ0) for the deuteron at low energies, Physical Review C - Nuclear Physics, vol. 77 no. 4 (April, 2008), pp. 044005, American Physical Society (APS) [Gateway.cgi], [doi]  [abs].
  3. M. A. Blackston et al., including H. R. Weller, First Observation of the splitting of the E1 p-wave amplitudes in low energy deuteron photodisintegration and its implications for the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn Sum Rule integrand, Phys. Rev. C, vol. 78 (2008), pp. 034003, American Physical Society [org] .
  4. Henry R. Weller et al., Research Opportunities at the upgraded HIGS Facility, Progress in Nuclear and Particle Physics, vol. 62 (2008), pp. 257-303, Elsevier [ppnp] .
  5. Weller, HR; Ahmed, M; Gao, H; Tornow, W; others, Research Opportunities at the Upgraded HIGS Facility, Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics, vol. 62 no. DOI: 10.1016/j.ppnp.2008.07.001 (2008), pp. 257-303, Elsevier BV [doi]  [abs].

Curriculum Vitae

Highlight:
Dr. Weller's research program at TUNL has been concentrated on using radiative capture reactions induced by polarized beams of protons and deuterons to study nuclear systems. These measurements have permitted him to observe the "D-state" in the 4He nucleus, which arises from the two body tensor force. This result changes the rate of the d+d fusion reaction by almost a factor of 50 at very low energies. This is of great interest in nuclear astrophysics. In the past year, he has focused on studies of (d,n) reactions using very low energy polarized beams. Such studies have not been previously performed. These reactions are of great interest in nuclear astrophysics. Dr. Weller is also working to help develop an intense beam of polarized gamma-rays using the facilities of the Duke Free Electron Laser Laboratory. (Dr. Weller is the Nuclear Physics Program Manager and is in charge of the development of the target room for the HIGS Project at DFELL). This beam will ultimately allow new experimental studies capable of testing fundamental aspects of Quantum Chromodynamics in the low-energy sector, such as the up-to-down quark mass ratio. The experiments at HIGS require very sophisticated targets and detector systems. Dr. Weller is leading the development of these. The first experiments using these setups and the upgraded HIGS facility are expected to begin in the spring of 2008.

Current Ph.D. Students   (Former Students)

  • Seth Hensahw  
  • Brent A. Perdue  
Postdocs Mentored

  • Eric Clinton (September 01, 2007 - present)  
  • Sean Stave (July, 2006 - present)  
  • Paul Kingsberry (April 1, 2005 - August 15, 2007)  
  • Yannis Parpottas (September 1, 2004 - June, 2006)  
  • Steve O. Nelson (2002/06-2003/01)  
  • Xiadong Hu (2001/10-2002/09)  
  • Steve Churchwell (2001/09-2002/09)  
  • Anton Tonchev (2001/01-2004/01)  
  • Mohammad Ahmed (January 1, 2001 - December 31, 2005)