Biography
Ben is an experimental nuclear-structure physicist. His main areas of interest are the single-particle structure of nuclei and its connection to the rate of decay of neutrinoless double-beta decay candidates, the evolution of trends in nuclear excitations with neutron excess, and weak-binding phenomena in nuclei. He carries out experiments at various laboratories around the world, leading several research programs. Ben has a keen interest in nuclear instrumentation, including novel charged-particle spectrometers of which he is currently leading an initiative to build one at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University. Ben joined the Physics Division in 2013.
Education
- Alder Grange High School, 1993 – 1998
- Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School, A levels, 1998 – 2000
- The University of Manchester, MPhys (Hons), Physics, 2000 – 2004
- The University of Manchester, PhD, Experimental nuclear physics, 2004 – 2007
Memberships
- Member of the American Physical Society, USA
Selected Publications (from last 10 years)
- Nuclear Physics in the 2020s and Beyond – A Symposium in Honor of John Schiffer
B. P. Kay and D. F. Geesaman, Nuclear Physics News 33 (Issue 4), 34 (2023) - Running Experiments during the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Had a Lasting, Beneficial Impact on How We Run Experiments Today
B. P. Kay, Nuclear Physics News 33 (Issue 3), 3 (2023) [Editorial] - Kinematics reconstruction in solenoidal spectrometers operated in active target mode
Y. Ayyad, …, B. P. Kay, … et al., Eur. Phys. J. A 59, 294 (2023) - Structures in the heavy-ion fusion excitation function at and above the Coulomb barrier
C. L. Jiang, W. F. Henning, B. P. Kay, amd N. Watwood, Phys. Rev. C 108, L051604 (2023) - Unexpected character of the heavy-ion fusion excitation function and the compound channel effect
C. L. Jiang, W. F. Henning, C. R. Hoffman, B. P. Kay, amd N. Watwood, Phys. Rev. C 108, L051605 (2023) - Direct Determination of Fission-Barrier Heights Using Light-Ion Transfer in Inverse Kinematics
S. A. Bennett, …, B. P. Kay, … et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 202501 (2023) [arXiv] - Perspectives on Few-Body Cluster Structures in Exotic Nuclei
D. Bazin, …, B. P. Kay, … et al., Few-Body Syst. 64, 25 (2023) [Review article] - Optical potentials for the rare-isotope beam era
C. Hebborn, …, B. P. Kay, … et al., J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 50, 060501 (2023) [arXiv] [Review article] - Probing the quadrupole transition strength in 15C via deuteron inelastic scattering
J. Chen, B. P. Kay, T. L. Tang et al., Phys. Rev. C 106, 064312 (2022) - Quenching of Single-Particle Strength in A =15 Nuclei
B. P. Kay, T. L. Tang, I. A. Tolstukhin et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 152501 (2022) [arXiv] - Heavy-ion fusion cross section formula and barrier height distribution
C. L. Jiang and B. P. Kay, Phys. Rev. C 105, 064601 (2022) - Single-Nucleon Energies Changing with Nucleon Number
J. P. Schiffer, B. P. Kay, and Jie Chen, Phys. Rev. C 105, L041302 (2022) [arXiv] - Neutron occupancies and single-particle energies across the stable tin isotopes
S. V. Szwec, D. K. Sharp, B. P. Kay et al., Phys. Rev. C 104, 054308 (2021) [arXiv] - Consistency of nucleon-transfer sum rules in well-deformed nuclei
B. P. Kay, J. P. Schiffer, S. J. Freeman, T. L. Tang et al., Phys. Rev. C 103, 024319 (2021) [arXiv] - Quenching of single-particle strength from direct reactions with stable and rare-isotope beams
T. Aumann, …, B. P. Kay, … et al., Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 118, 103847 (2021) [arXiv] [Review article] - First Exploration of Neutron Shell Structure below Lead and beyond N=126
T. L. Tang, B. P. Kay, C. R. Hoffman et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 062502 (2020) [arXiv] - The SOLARIS White Paper (2018)
- Effect of finite binding on the apparent spin-orbit splitting in nuclei
B. P. Kay, C. R. Hoffman, and A. O. Macchiavelli. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 182502 (2017) [arXiv] - High-j neutron excitations outside 136Xe
R. Talwar, B. P. Kay, S. Adachi et al., Phys. Rev. C 96, 024310 (2017) [arXiv] - Rearrangement of valence neutrons in the neutrinoless double-β decay of 136Xe
S. V. Szwec, B. P. Kay, T. E. Cocolios et al., Phys. Rev. C 94, 054314 (2016) [arXiv] - Change of nuclear configurations in the neutrinoless double-β decay of 130Te → 130Xe and 136Xe → 136Ba.
J. P. Entwisle, B. P. Kay, A. Tamii et al., Phys. ReV. C 93, 064312 (2016) [arXiv] - Neutron s states in loosely bound nuclei
C. R. Hoffman, B. P. Kay, and J. P. Schiffer. Phys. Rev. C. 89, 061305(R) (2014) [arXiv]