Peter Ludwig

Exercise session for Nuclear Astrophysics I.

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS):

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry is very powerful tool for rare isotope detection. The Maier-Leibnitz Laboratory (MLL) in Garching is uniquely equipped to measure extremely low isotopic ratios on the order of 10^-16, depending on the isotope. This provides us with a very sensitive tool with applications in various fields, including astrophysics. The following is one among the projects I am currently working on:

Search for Superheavy Elements (SHE) in Nature:

It is not excluded, that small amounts of SHE (Z>104) are present on earth. If they have been created in sufficient amounts in the rapid neutron capture process before the formation of our solar system, and their half-lives are sufficiently long, they might still exist in nature.
Within the framework of my diploma thesis, an AMS beamline at the MLL was upgraded with a new Wien-velocity filter. This setup is specifically designed for AMS with heavy isotopes. It is also possible to search for extremely small traces of SHE in natural samples. Experiments have been conducted (and are sill ongoing) and upper limits on the abundances of SHE in several sample materials could be established. For more information, visit: http://www.bl.physik.uni-muenchen.de/gams/PUBL/2010_Ludwig_Diplomathesis.pdf

Search for Supernovae in Microfossils

For my PhD thesis, I am working on a project that aims to discover a past interaction of a supernova event with the fossil record of our planet in the form of traces of the long-lived radioisotope ⁶⁰Fe. When the ejecta of a supernova deposit  ⁶⁰Fe on earth, it can be incorporated by magnetotactic bacteria into magnetosomes. It is possible to search for smallest concentrations of  ⁶⁰Fe in the fossils left behind by those bacteria with accelerator mass sepectrometry at the Maier-Leibnitz-Laboratory in Garching. For further information please see this page.