https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-023-01193-3
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
Franz Käppeler and evolutions in nuclear physics
1
Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Notre Dame, 46556, Notre Dame, IN, USA
2
A. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory of Armenia, 0036, Yerevan, Armenia
3
Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin La Crosse, 54601, La Crosse, WI, USA
Received:
9
October
2023
Accepted:
5
November
2023
Published online:
20
November
2023
This is a paper on the remarkable evolution in the career of Franz Käppeler that started with the measurements of neutron cross sections of various materials, followed by studies of key nuclei for the slow neutron capture process (s-process) in search of the origins of half of the heavy elements, and eventually to the measurements of the lifetimes of long-lived isomers identified in nuclei along the branching points of the s-process. This evolution of scientific interest took place over 4–5 decades and included the development of new tools and techniques that were implemented into the construction of new facilities for nuclear physics coupled with advances in both astronomical observations and theoretical approaches in modeling. Franz Käppeler led an exemplary life in his love of Rosel, good friends, great champagne, and those ever-elusive neutrons and their interactions with nuclei resulting in the various wonders of the universe.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
