The heaviest atomic nuclei

Our research concerns the existence, structure, stability and methods of synthesis of superheavy nuclei (Z > 103), and is related to fundamental questions about the boundaries of the periodic table and the possibility of binding 300 or even more nucleons t by strong interactions. This research supports experimental efforts to synthesize the heaviest elements carried out in Berkeley, Dubna, Darmstadt and Riken. The description of heavy nuclei is based on the self-consistent mean field method in its various variants. The processes, which are described, include the main decay channels, such as fission and alpha decays, of both ground states and isomers. Phenomenological synthesis models are formulated and tested on available experimental data.

Gravity and cosmology

There are studied models of the early Universe that can explain the origin of structures from which the observed Universe emerged. A quantum bounce cosmology is considered, in which the Big Bang singularity is replaced by a quantum big bounce. Theoretical tools for this research are being developed, such as quantization methods, approximations of quantum dynamics, and Hamiltonian formalism for describing cosmological perturbations. Cosmological models with an extended theory of gravity are examined and compared with available observational data. The goal is to understand current and future observations, especially in the context of the difficulties of the ΛCDM model and the unknown nature of dark energy and dark matter. There are examinations of models of astrophysical black holes as well in the context of their collapse to gravitational singularities. The mechanizm of avoiding classical singularities via quantum bounce is similar to the cosmological case.

Elementary particles

The Standard Model of particle physics does not describe all the phenomena occurring in the Universe and requires extension. Our research focuses on the phenomenological aspects of models beyond the Standard Model. Using available experimental data and astrophysical observations, we look for feasible extensions to the Standard Model. We focus on those that can explain some anomalies observed in experiments at the LHC. We deal with the phenomenology of dark matter and search for particles that can constitute this form of matter.  Possibilities of direct and indirect detection, as well as the issue of the evolution of dark matter in the early Universe are studied. The calculations we perform go beyond simple models, we use quantum field theory methods, especially at finite temperature.

Quantum chromodynamics

Quantum chromodynamics (QCD), describing the interactions of partons, i.e. quarks and gluons, is well established experimentally, but due to its rich structure some important questions remain unanswered. This motivates experimental research at functioning accelerators, and especially at the Electron Ion Collider (EIC) currently under construction. In our research, we are looking for  appropriate factorization schemes that will enable to express the cross-section of interaction of hadrons through the perturbatively calculated part describing the parton scattering and the non-perturbative part characterizing the structure of hadrons that is the parton distributions obtained from experimental data. Our research aims to precisely determine transverse momentum dependent distributions (TMD) and generalized distributions (GPD), providing information about the three-dimensional structure of hadrons. We look for observables beyond the leading order in the strong coupling constant and including subeikonal corrections in the energy of scattering processes. For inclusive processes, we use an effective theory known as Color Glass Condensate (CGC).

ul. Pasteura 7,
02-093 Warszawa
tel. +48 22 273 28 02
e-mail: BP2@ncbj.gov.pl