Frontier supercomputer reveals new detail in nuclear structure

A team of researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has unveiled a new technique to predict nuclear properties with unprecedented precision. By harnessing the Frontier supercomputer, the world’s first exascale system, the scientists modeled how subatomic particles bind and shape an atomic nucleus — work that could open new frontiers in quantum physics, energy production, and national security.

In their study, published in Physical Review X, the researchers highlight how higher-resolution simulations helped capture elusive details of nuclear structure, including how nuclei can rotate and assume both round and “football-like” shapes. The strong nuclear force — the fundamental interaction that holds protons and neutrons together — emerged as a chief driver of these deformations.

Historically, scientists have struggled to unite the various aspects of nuclear behavior into a single computational model, especially when rotation, shape changes, and large binding energies are involved. By running millions of simulations on Frontier, which can handle more than a quintillion calculations per second, the team integrated these factors in a way that was previously out of reach.

“At very low resolution, the nucleus might be viewed as a liquid drop that rotates,” explained ORNL’s Gaute Hagen. “As resolution increases, you see more details about the internal structure, and more is learned about how subatomic particles interact to build the nucleus.”

One of the study’s key revelations centered on a rare isotope called neon-30, which can simultaneously exist in round and deformed shapes. By examining this “shape coexistence,” the researchers gained fresh insight into how the strong force arranges and stabilizes subatomic particles.

Beyond the landmark simulations, the team also produced new models of nuclear properties that can run efficiently on standard laptops, ensuring the benefits extend to the broader research community. According to Sun, these approaches are “game changers” for the study of deformed nuclei, enabling more scientists to explore nuclear questions without the constant need for supercomputing resources.

The research received support from the DOE Office of Science, including its Offices of Nuclear Physics and Advanced Scientific Computing Research. Frontier, located at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, exemplifies how exascale computing can tackle complex scientific puzzles once considered beyond reach. For research scientists worldwide, this breakthrough promises a more detailed understanding of atomic nuclei—information that could shape future breakthroughs in reactor design, nuclear medicine, and fundamental physics alike.