IIT Roorkee’s discovery of the heaviest proton-emitting isotope 188 highlights its global research collaboration.
IIT Roorkee, June 6, 2025: IIT Roorkee played a crucial part in a multinational collaborative effort leading to the discovery of a new atomic nucleus, 188 Astatine (188At). This discovery was achieved through an experiment at the accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland, along with the theory developed at Roorkee and Universidad de Lisboan, Portugal.
IIT Roorkee’s nuclear physics group played a key role in the rare nuclear decay discovery published in Nature Communications:
This discovery of this new atomic nucleus, 188At, is based on the rare process of a nucleus decaying by emitting a proton.
With a mass number of 188, it turns out to be the heaviest proton-emitting isotope known to date.
Interestingly, the first evidence of a rare phenomenon called the Thomas-Ehrman shift in heavy nuclei.
These results are published in the journal “Nature Communications” (Reference and hyperlink to be added) owing to the importance of their implications in fundamental physics and allied areas.
Prof. P. Arumugam, Department of Physics, Roorkee, who led the theoretical efforts mentioned “So far, about 3400 isotopes have been discovered across all 118 known elements, which is only a half of possible measurable isotopes.
It is indeed a monumental effort to measure a new one like the 188At with the novel facilities at Jyvaskyla and a strong group of researchers from Finland, the USA, India, the UK, Portugal, Slovakia and Germany.
Roorkee’s contributions are mainly through the state-of-the-art theory and simulations developed over the past 15 years.
We are glad that our persistent effort in exploring such interesting phenomena in fundamental physics eventually enabled us to discover 188At.
The expended details of our theory are provided in the supplementary material of the article.”
Breakthrough also reveals the first evidence of the Thomas-Ehrman shift in heavy nuclei:
This achievement not only celebrates a major scientific milestone but also reinforces Roorkee’s global standing as a hub of high-impact, collaborative research in fundamental and applied sciences.
Prof. K. K. Pant, Director of IIT Roorkee, congratulated the team for this discovery and added that “Significant developments in fundamental science are crucial as it widens the scope of its application to novel technologies and problems of contemporary interest.
IIT Roorkee has consistently cultivated this aspect of research, which is yielding good results like this discovery of a new isotope with unforeseen unique properties. Such ground-breaking results are possible with a strong international collaboration which IIT Roorkee is keen to foster.”
This landmark discovery underscores IIT Roorkee’s unwavering commitment to excellence in fundamental scientific research.
The institute continues to make significant contributions on the global stage by nurturing cutting-edge theoretical work, building interdisciplinary capabilities, and fostering international collaborations.
With a strong foundation in physics, engineering, and computational sciences, IIT Roorkee is steadily advancing knowledge frontiers and inspiring future breakthroughs that can shape our understanding of the universe and drive transformative innovations in science and technology.
EOM.