Toroidal modes are a common phenomenon in many areas of physics. An illustrative example are smoke rings. Researchers of the CRC together with an international team of theoreticians have demonstrated for the first time the existence of a toroidal mode in nuclei. The identification of toroidal excitations in the nucleus 58Ni was possible through the combined analysis of high-resolution data from proton, photon and electron scattering experiments. Because of its sensitivity to current distributions, electron scattering at backward angles represents the best suited probe to prove their toroidal nature.

The results are published in Physical Review Letters with an “Editors Suggestion” and a Feature in Physics Magazine.