Area of investigations:

• Heavy Ion Reactions
• Nuclear Matter
• Nuclear Pasta
• Neutron Star Crusts
• Neutron-Rich matter
• Isoscaling
• Nuclear Equation of State
• Nuclear Symmetry Energy

Group members:

• Enrique Ramírez-Homs, BS, 2011-2014
• Rodolfo I. Gonzalez, BS, 2012-2014
• Alejandra Robles, High School student, 2013

• Demetrio Corralez, BS, 2012

• Juan García, BS, 2009 to 2010 

• Jorge Muñoz, BS, 2006 to 2008

• Rodrigo Gamboa Goñi, MS, 2006-2007

• Alán Dávila, BS, 2002 to 2006

• Armando Barrañon, MS, 2003-2005

• Christian Escudero, BS, MS, 2000 to 2005

• Manuel A. Ramos, BS, 2002-2003

• Jesús Escamilla Roa, MS, 2001-2003
  

• Mario F. Borunda, BS, 1997 to 2003

• Rafael Cárdenas, MS, 2000-2002
  

• Martha Navarro, BS, 1998 to 2001

• Xiaofang Mu, MS, 1996-1998

• Jaime Morales, BS, 1995 to 1998

• Xiaoyu Wang, MS, 1994-1996

• Tim Robinson, MS, 1994-1996

• Raul Medellin, BS, 1994 to 1996

• Alfredo Aranda, BS, 1993 to 1996

• Ganesh Thondikulam, MS, 1993-1995

• Mario Borunda Escobedo, (Ph.D.) 1992 to 1994

Past and present collaborators

• Dr. Ramon Ravelo, Professor, UTEP, 2013.
• Dr. Claudio Dorso, Professor, University of Buenos Aires, 2011-2013.
• Pedro Giménez Molinelli, Ph.D. student, University of Buenos Aires, 2011-2013.  Pedro completed his Ph.D. studies in 2014.
• Juan I. Nichols, Ph.D. student, University of Buenos Aires, 2011-2013.

Recent Publications

• "Isospin-asymmetric nuclear matter", J.A. López, E. Ramírez-Homs, R. González and R. Ravelo, Phys. Rev. C 89, 024611 (2014); see preprint here.

• "Simulations of cold matter at subsaturation densities", P.A. Giménez-Molinelli, J.I. Nichols, J.A. López and C.O. Dorso, Nuc. Phys. A, 923, Pp. 31-50, 2014.

• "Topological characterization of neutron star crusts", C.O. Dorso, P. Giménez-Molinelli and J.A. López, published in The Physical Review C86 055805 (2012). Downloadpreprint in the Arxivs.

Funding

• "Isospin Diffusion", PI: J. López, DOE Visiting Faculty Program. Approx. $20,000, Pending, for the period 6/3/2014 to 8/9/2014 for J. Lopez and BS student Rodolfo I. Gonzalez.

• Travel Grant from the American Physical Society for Rodolfo I. Gonzalez to present a poster at the 2013 Conference Experience for Undergraduates in Newport News, Va in conjunction with the fall meeting of the Division of Nuclear Physics of the American Physical Society, 23-26 October 2013.

• "Classical aspects of the symmetry energy", PI: J. López, DOE Visiting Faculty Program. Approx. $20,000, awarded for the period 6/3/2013 to 8/9/2013 for J. Lopez and BS student Rodolfo I. Gonzalez.

Nuclear Physics Group Activities

2013

• Dec. 9-12: Talk by J.A. López at JUSTIPEN-JUSEIPEN Workshop in RIKEN in Tokyo, Japan. JUSTIPEN is The Japan-U.S. Theory Institute for Physics with Exotic Nuclei.
• Oct. 23-26: Poster presentation by B.S. student Rodolfo I. Gonzalez at the 2013 Conference Experience for Undergraduates in Newport News, Va in conjunction with the fall meeting of the Division of Nuclear Physics of the American Physical Society.
• Sep. 27: Invited Talk by J.A. López "Cold nuclear matter" in Symposium on Low Temperature Physics at UACJ, in Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

2012

• Nov. 29, Article Spotlight, the article "Topological characterization of neutron star crusts was selected to appear in Physics-Spotlighting Exceptional research: Italian Delicacies Served Up in a Neutron Star Crust, Physics, Nov. 29, 2012.
• Aug. 7: Invited Talk by J.A. López "Nuclear matter at low temperatures and densities: the pasta revisited" in Nuclear Physics Forum at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab's 88-inch Cyclotron.
• Aug. 5: J.A. López, Member of Organizing Committee of Latin American Symposium of Nuclear Physics and Applications, to be held in Oct. 2013 in Montevideo, Uruguay.

• Jul. 15-27, Enrique Ramirez-Homs participated in the International Neutron Scattering Instrumentation School (INSIS), Rome Italy, Jul. 15-27, 2012. http://neutrons.ornl.gov/conf/insis2012/.

2011

• Dec. 1-6: J.A. López Visiting Universidad de Colima, seminar talk "Nuclear Pasta".
• Oct. 28: J.A. López selected as Educator of the Year and delivered an Invited Talk, 2011 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers National Conference, Anaheim, CA. See SHPE Award information here, UTEP Press release here, and Channel 9 report here.
• Oct. 27-28: Invited Talk by J.A. López "Neutron-rich nuclear physics", 2011 Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans National Conference, San Jose, CA, see program here.
• Oct. 3-30: Guest Dr. Claudio Dorso, Universidad de Buenos Aires.
• Sep. 21-24: Invited Talk by J.A. López "Neutron-rich nuclear physics", 2011 National Society of Hispanic Physicists National Conference, Austin, TX.
• Sep. 19: Interview of J.A. López about nuclear waste repository in Carlsbad NM, "Estudiarán alemanes basurero nuclear...", El Diario de El Paso, El Paso, TX.

2010

• Nov. 2: Guest Dr. Carlos Bertulani, Texas A&M University - Commerce.
• Oct. 1: Award:Bravo Outstanding MAEStro Award, at MAES National Conference in Anaheim, CA.
• Aug. 1-13: Talk and participation in PASI 2010 on Rare Isotopes, Joao Pessoa, Brazil.  See PASI wiki page here, my personal page here, and the Neutron Stars page here, to see how hard we worked see the photos here, to see my talk see the high quality video here, or thelow quality video here.

2009 

• Oct. 23: Hyer Award to J.A. Muñoz and J.A. López from the Texas Section of the American Physical Society in San Marcos, TX. for Research with undergraduate student "Probabilistic aspects of isoscaling".  See information here.

Contact information 

• jorgelopez@utep.edu, 915-747-7528
• Recent Activities, Curriculum vitae

• "From nuclei to nuclear pasta", C.O. Dorso, P.A. Gíménez-Molinelli and J.A. López, in "Neutron Star Crust", Eds. C.A. Bertulani and J. Piekarewicz, 2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.See preprint here.
• "Isoscaling and the nuclear EOS",  C.A. Dorso, P.A. Giménez-Molinelli and J.A. López, J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 38 (2011) 115101.
• "Searching for the origin of isoscaling: confinement and expansion", C.A. Dorso, P.A. Giménez-Molinelli and J.A. López, Rev. Mex. Fis. S57 (1) 14–17, 2011.
• "Probabilistic aspects of isoscaling", J.A. López, J.A. Muñoz and C.O. Dorso, Rev. Mex. Fis. S56, 85-88, 2010.

• "Nuclear matter at low temperatures", PI: J. López, DOE Visiting Faculty Program. Approx. $15,000, awarded for the period 6/2/2012 to 8/10/2012.
• Travel Grant for Enrique Ramirez-Homs to attend the International Neutron Scattering Instrumentation School (INSIS), Rome Italy, Jul. 15-27, 2012. http://neutrons.ornl.gov/conf/insis2012/.
• "Isospin dependence of the nuclear equation of state", PI: J. López, National Science Foundation, $186,000, Awarded for period 8/1/2011-7/30/2014.

• Jun. 3 - Aug. 9: Visiting the Nuclear Theory group of the Nuclear Science Division of The Lawrence Berkeley Lab,  J.A. López with UG students Enrique Ramirez Homs and Rodolfo Gonzalez. See here for article about our participation in the LBL-NSD newsletter (p.4).
• May 24: Colloquium by J.A. López "Nuclear matter cooked Italian style", Institute of Nuclear Sciences, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico.

• Jan. 26: Most Outstanding Award earned by High School student Alejandra Robles, member of the research group in the El Paso Independent School District Science Fair.

• Jun. 4 - Aug. 10: Visiting the Nuclear Theory group of the Nuclear Science Division of The Lawrence Berkeley Lab, J.A. López with student Enrique Ramirez-Homs and collaborator Dr. Claudio Dorso (U Buenos Aires).

• May 12-26: J.A. López Visiting the University of Buenos Aires with Claudio Dorso, delivering a Colloquium Talk: "From nuclei to nuclear pasta" (17/5/2012).

• Apr. 12: J.A. López inducted as a Corresponding Member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences, delivered an Invited Talk "Heavy Ion Reactions" at IFUNAM in Mexico City.
• Mar. 22-24: J.A. López Visited and delivered a Seminar Talk "From nuclei to Nuclear Pasta in ... Stars!" at the Physics Department of Bradley University in Peoria Illinois, visiting Jose Lozano.

• May 12: Colloquium Talk by J.A. López "Neutron-rich nuclear physics", University of California - Riverside.

• Apr. 12: Interview about nuclear energy, The Prospector, UTEP. Read the interview.
• Apr. 5: Interview about Fukushima, The RAYMN8R Report, AC Radio Network, New York, NY. Hear the interview (move the play bar to minute 24).
• Jan. 26-28: Guest Dr. Scott Pratt, Michigan State U.
• Jan. 4-7: Member of International Advisory Committee, XXXIV Symposium of Nuclear Physics, Cocoyoc, Mexico.

• May 16-22: Talk by J.A. López "Nuclear Isoscaling" was delivered at the Universidad de Colima.
• Apr. 29: Talk by J.A. López "The new nuclear physics" at New Mexico Tech.
• Apr. 9: talks by J.A. López "The new nuclear physics" at U. North Carolina at Wilmington.
• Mar. 7 - 10: Talk by J.A. López "Nuclear Isoscaling" delivered at the Symposium of Physics of Radiations of the Sociedad Mexicana de Física in Zacatecas, Mexico.  See photos here. 

• Oct. 13-17: Talk by J.A. López at the Joint Japan-USA Nuclear Physics Conference in Kona, Hawaii.  See photos here.
• Oct. 13-17: Poster by J. Garcia and E, Ramírez-Homs at the Joint Japan-USA Nuclear Physics Conference in Kona, Hawaii.