Research
I’m a nuclear astrophysicist with a particular interest in the neutron capture processes that produce the elements heavier than iron. Understanding the physics of these processes requires detailed knowledge on the reactions and decays of a large set of radioactive nuclei, but also a deep knowledge of the astrophysical environments in order to understand what nuclear data is relevant.
In my current position as a postdoc at LP2i Bordeaux, I am investigating how we can constrain nuclear reaction models using alternative reactions like (d,p) or (p,p’) to investigate neutron-induced reactions on radioactive nuclei that would not be possible to study otherwise. I’m particularly interested in quantifying both the systematic and parameter uncertainties of these models, so we can trust the neutron-induced cross sections that indirect methods produce.
Publication highlights
High-temperature 205Tl decay clarifies 205Pb dating in early Solar System — G. Leckenby et al. (2024) Nature 635, 556–560. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08130-4
How our measurement of the bound-state β decay of fully ionized 205Tl81+ clarified the weak decay rates at the termination of the s-process path, and the impacts on 205Pb chronometry of the early Solar System.
Bound-State Beta Decay of 205Tl81+ Ions and the LOREX Project — R. S. Sidhu et al. (2024) Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 232701. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.232701
Quantifying the impact of our bound-state β-decay measurement on the geochemical activation experiment LOREX, which would be sensitive to the lowest energy neutrinos coming from the Sun.
Bayesian and Monte Carlo approaches to estimating uncertainty for the measurement of the bound-state β - decay of 205Tl81+ — G. Leckenby et al. (2025) Chin. Phys. C 49, 114001. DOI: 10.1088/1674-1137/ade956
The strengths and weaknesses of Bayesian vs Monte Carlo methods for error propagation and handling of systematic/correlated uncertainties using the example of our bound-state β-decay analysis.
My Theses
Exotic decay measurements at the Experimental Storage Ring for neutron capture processes
PhD thesis, University of British Columbia (2024). UBC Open Collections
Remodelling a multi-anode ionisation chamber detector for accelerator mass spectrometry of 53Mn
Honours thesis, Australian National University (2017). ANU Open Research
Publication statistics
For those who are not familiar with publication norms in nuclear physics, nuclear experiments are usually the work of many people across a facility and collaboration, but are often analysed by a small team. As a result, it is common to only produce one paper detailing 3-5 years of work. Whilst I am grateful to be in a field that values quality over quantity, it does make interpreting the author listing rather complicated. Here’s my understanding of the usual convention:
The small team that is responsible for the experiment is listed first with a ranking that prioritises the young researchers and otherwise ranks the magnitude of the contribution. Then the remaining authors are listed alphabetically, usually honouring technical or collaborative contributions to the work.
Using this framework, I break down my article contributions using the following framework:
- First-author: this is my primary work and I managed the paper
- Primary team: I was a member of the primary team, but did not directly manage the paper
- Affiliated: I contributed to this work, but in a collaborative capacity
2
First-author
3
Primary team
14
Affiliated
4
Conference proceedings