Director, Joint Institute of Nuclear Physics and Applications

Brief Vita

• Professor of Physics, University of Tennessee (2012-present)
• Associate Professor of Physics, University of Tennessee (2007-2012)
• Assistant Professor of Physics, University of Tennessee (2003-2006)
• Assistant Professor of Physics, Warsaw University (1998-2003)
• Wigner Fellow, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Physics Division (2001-2003)
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physics, University of Tennessee (1998-2001)
• PhD, Physics, Warsaw University (1997)
• MSc, Physics, Warsaw University (1994)

Selected Honors and Awards

• UT College of Arts and Sciences Senior Research Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activity (2016)
• Fellow of the American Physical Society (2016)
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory Significant Event Award (2008)
• UT Chancellor’s Honors: Professional Promise in Research and Creative Achievement (2007)

Highlights

• The FRIB Decay Station: New Horizons with Rare Isotopes
• Knowledge (Gained from) Gaps
• Shape-Shifting Nuclei
• Where Instability is a Good Thing
• Tennessee Gets a Place at the Table with Newest Element: Tennessine

Research Areas

Experimental Nuclear Physics

Professor Grzywacz’s research focuses on the decay of unstable nuclei, emphasizing nuclear processes that are critical for understanding the most abundant elements in the Universe. He is a leader in developing techniques and detectors for studying nuclei at the limits of stability and doing experiments with beams of radioactive nuclei and is involved with important detector design and development projects for the next generation of radioactive-beam facilities, e.g., FRIB. He was among the researchers whose work added tennessine to the periodic table of elements. Grzywacz also serves as director of the UT-ORNL Joint Institute for Nuclear Physics and Applications.

Teaching

Professor Grzywacz has taught the following courses:

• Astronomy 217-218: Honors Introductory Astronomy I and II
• Physics 232: Modern Physics
• Physics 599: Seminars in Nuclear Physics
• Physics 621-622: Nuclear Physics I and II

Selected Publications

Google Scholar Profile

• β-delayed neutron emission of r-process nuclei at the N = 82 shell closure By: Hall, O.; Davinson, T.; Estrade, A.; et al. Physics Letters B Volume: 816 Page: 136266 Published: MAY 10 2021
• Long-lived isomeric states and quasiparticle band structures in neutron-rich ^162,164Gd nuclei from β decay By: E. H. Wang et al. Phys. Rev. C Volume: 103 Issue: 1 Page: 014317 Published: JAN 22 2021
• Mapping of fragmented νf_5/2 → πf_7/2 transitions in the ⁷³Co → ⁷³Ni decay By: Go, S.; Grzywacz, R.; Massocchi, C.; et al. Physical Review C Volume: 102 Issue: 4 Page: 044331 Published: OCT 29 2020
• New transitions and levels for ¹⁶³Tb obtained from β-decay studies By: Zachary, C.J.; et al. Phys. Rev. C Volume: 102 Issue: 4 Page: 044302 Published: OCT 2 2020
• Cross-section measurements to low-lying excited final states in the ²⁴Mg(α,p)²⁷Al∗(γ) reaction as an energy source for x-ray bursts By: Ahn, T.; Aguilar, S.; deBoer, R.J.; et al. Phys. Rev. C Volume: 102 Issue: 3 Page: 035805 Published: SEPT 22 2020
• Detailed spectroscopy of doubly magic ¹³²Sn By: Benito, J.; et al. (IDS Collaboration) Phys. Rev. C Volume: 102 Issue: 1 Page: 014328 Published: JULY 29 2020
• Identification of new transitions and levels in ¹⁶³Gd from β-decay studies By: Zachary, C.J.; et al. Phys. Rev. C Volume: 101 Issue: 5 Page:054312 Published: May 19 2020
• Impact of Modular Total Absorption Spectrometer Measurements of Beta Decay of Fission Products on the Decay Heat and Reactor (v)over-bar(e) Flux Calculation By: Fijalkowska, A.; Karny, M.; Rykaczewski, K. P.; et al. Physical Review Letters Volume: 119 Issue: 5 Article Number: 052503 Published: AUG 2 2017
• Decays of the Three Top Contributors to the Reactor (nu)over-bar(e) High-Energy Spectrum, Rb-92, (96)gsY, and Cs-142, Studied with Total Absorption Spectroscopy By: Rasco, B. C.; Wolinska-Cichocka, M.; Fijalkowska, A.; et al. Physical Review Letters Volume: 117 Issue: 9 Article Number: 092501 Published: AUG 22 2016
• Review of Even Element Super-Heavy Nuclei and Search for Element 120 By: Hofmann, S.; Heinz, S.; Mann, R.; et al. European Physical Journal A Volume: 52 Issue: 6 Article Number: 180 Published: JUN 28 2016
• Experiments on the Synthesis of Superheavy Nuclei (284)Fl and (285)Fl in the Pu-239,Pu-240+Ca-48 Reactions By: Utyonkov, V. K.; Brewer, N. T.; Oganessian, Yu. Ts.; et al. Physical Review C Volume: 92 Issue: 3 Article Number: 034609 Published: SEP 15 2015
• Experimental studies of the ²⁴⁹Bk + ⁴⁸Ca reaction including decay properties and excitation function for isotopes of element 117, and discovery of the new isotope ²⁷⁷Mt By: Oganessian, Yu. Ts. et al. Phys. Rev. C Volume: 87 Article Number: 054621 Published: May 30 2013
• Production and Decay of the Heaviest Nuclei (293,294)117 and (294)118 By: Oganessian, Yu. Ts.; Abdullin, F. Sh.; Alexander, C.; et al. Physical Review Letters Volume: 109 Issue: 15 Article Number: 162501 Published: OCT 15 2012
• Orbital Dependent Nucleonic Pairing in the Lightest Known Isotopes of Tin By: Darby, I.G.; Grzywacz, R.K.; Batchelder, J.C.; Bingham, C.R.; Cartegni, L.; Gross, C.J.; Hjorth-Jensen, M.; Joss, D.T.; Liddick, S.N.; Nazarewicz, W.; Padgett, S.; Page, R.D.; Papenbrock, T.; Rajabali, M.M.; Rotureau, J.; and Rykaczewski, K.P. Phys. Rev. Lett. Volume: 105 Article Number: 162502 Published: OCT 12 2010