Research group Prof. Dr. Peter Reiter

99.9% of the matter around us consists of atomic nuclei. These consist of nucleons (protons and neutrons) and mesons, which interact with each other through the strong, electromagnetic and weak forces. Despite intensive experimental and theoretical efforts, the strong interaction in nuclei is still not sufficiently understood.

Atomic nuclei also play a central role in energy production and other processes in stars. This means that atomic nuclei play an important connecting role between the very smallest systems and the very largest systems (stars, galaxies, universe).

Because of this unique position of the many-particle system of the atomic nucleus, it is of fundamental importance to understand the structure of nuclei and the interactions of nucleons in nuclei.

In all fields of work, equipment developments and associated experiments are carried out as part of Bachelor's, Master's and doctoral theses.

The accelerator experiments are carried out at the Cologne tandem accelerator, at the large-scale research facilities CERN in Geneva, at the GANIL research center in Caen and at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt.