Christopher L H Wrede

Professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy

Location: 2018 Cyclotron Bldg

Website: https://people.nscl.msu.edu/~wrede/

Photo of: Christopher L H Wrede

Bio

Atomic nuclei play an important role in the evolution of matter in our universe. For many problems in astrophysics, cosmology, and particle physics, the detailed properties of atomic nuclei provide essential inputs to the solutions.
Our group's research focuses on studying nuclei experimentally to probe fundamental questions about our universe. For example, we measure nuclear reactions, decays, and masses in the laboratory to learn about the reactions that power exploding stars or affect their synthesis of chemical elements. Similar experiments can contribute to searches for physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. In some cases, we can use these low energy nuclear physics techniques to directly measure the reactions that occur in stars or to directly search for new physics.
Our program at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is currently focused on measuring the beta decays of proton-rich nuclides. With these experiments, we hope to constrain the nuclear structure details that are most influential on the explosive burning of hydrogen on the surfaces of accreting compact stars such as white dwarfs and neutron stars. Additionally, these experiments can allow us to better constrain the effects of isospin-symmetry breaking in nuclei on tests of the unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix, a cornerstone of the standard model.
Students in our group have opportunities to propose, prepare, execute, analyze, and interpret nuclear-physics experiments at FRIB, to publish the results in leading scientific journals, and to present the results at national and international conferences.
# Education:
* 2008: Ph.D., Physics, Yale University

Courses

ISP 205: Visions of the Universe

Selected Publications

Constraining the 30P(p,γ)31S Reaction Rate in ONe Novae via the Weak, Low-Energy, β-Delayed Proton Decay of 31Cl, T. Budner, M. Friedman, C. Wrede et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 182701 (2022) View Publication
Extension of the particle x-ray coincidence technique: The lifetimes and branching ratios apparatus, L.J. Sun, J. Dopfer, A. Adams, C. Wrede et al., Phys. Rev. C 111, 055806 (2025) View Publication
First application of Markov Chain Monte Carlo-based Bayesian data analysis to the Doppler-Shift Attenuation Method, L. J. Sun, C. Fry, B. Davids, N. Esker, C. Wrede et al., Phys. Lett. B 839, 137801 (2023) View Publication
GADGET: a Gaseous Detector with Germanium Tagging, M. Friedman, D. Perez-Loureiro, L. Pollacco, T. Budner, C. Wrede et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 940, 93 (2019) View Publication
Low-energy 23Al β-delayed proton decay and 22Na destruction in novae, M. Friedman, T. Budner, D. Perez-Loureiro, L. Pollacco, C. Wrede et al., Phys. Rev. C 101, 052802(R) (2020) View Publication
Object detection with deep learning for rare event search in the GADGET II TPC, T. Wheeler, S. Ravishankar, C. Wrede et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 1080, 170659 (2025) View Publication
Time Projection Chamber for GADGET II, R. Mahajan, T. Wheeler, E. Pollacco, C. Wrede et al., Phys. Rev. C 110, 035807 (2024) View Publication