Physics Colloquium - Precision Nuclear Physics using Rare Isotopes.

Nuclear physics is fundamentally understood through the strong interaction using Quantum Chromo Dynamics, for which the Nobel Prize was awarded in 2004. Yet, the translation of this theory from quarks and gluons to describe massive nuclei made up of many neutrons and protons, requires a different approach and has not been fully successful. To guide such a theoretical framework, benchmarking against extreme cases, with high precision and accuracy, is needed. I will describe an experimental program for precision mass measurements of short-lived radioactive isotopes, which provides excellent tools to test and inform theoretical predictions. The measurements are carried out using ion traps to store individual charged atoms connected to the radioactive beam facility ISAC at the TRIUMF laboratory in Vancouver, Canada.