Report on the Low Energy Mini Town Meeting at the APS DNP Meeting Thursday, Oct. 26, 2012

Transcription

1 Report on the Low Energy Mini Town Meeting at the APS DNP Meeting Thursday, Oct. 26, 2012 Over 150 members of the Low Energy research community attended a Mini Town Meeting chaired by Brad Sherrill from Michigan State University and organized by Baha Balantekin (Wisconsin - FRIB Theory Organization), Carl Gross (ORNL - HRIBF), Daryl Hartley (US Naval Academy ATLAS User Group), Augusto Macchiavelli (LBNL 88 Inch Cyclotron), Witek Nazarewicz (ORNL - HRIBF), David Radford, ORNL GRETINA Advisory Committee), Guy Savard (ANL Univ. of Chicago - ATLAS), Hendrik Schatz (MSU - JINA), Michael Smith (ORNL FRIB User Organization), and Ingo Wiedenhoever (FSU - ARUNA). The meeting featured four speakers and an hour of Open Discussion on the status and future of Low Energy Nuclear Physics. The speakers and topics were: David Dean (ORNL), "Nuclei and Astrophysics "; Thomas Glasmacher (FRIB), "Status of FRIB"; Rick Casten (Yale), "Low Energy Community Meeting Report"; and Hendrik Schatz (MSU), "Nuclear Astrophysics Town Meeting Report". The goals for this Mini-Town Meeting were to keep the community informed on the latest news, to reprise the information presented to NSAC Implementation Subcommittee in early September 2012, to give the community a chance for input into the Subcommittee process, and to prepare for a community-wide town meeting at the APS DNP on Friday, Oct. 27, Brad Sherrill discussed the agenda for the Mini Town Meeting. He explained that the first two talks (from David Dean and Thomas Glasmacher) largely repeated information presented to the NSAC Subcommittee in September. The second two presentations provided summaries of major community meeting that discussed issues related to the NSAC deliberations. Following the presentations, he suggested an Open Discussion about the current situation, where comments from attendees would be recorded by note takers. He then suggested we discuss endorsing recent resolutions adopted at the Low Energy Community Meeting and the Nuclear Astrophysics Town Meeting, and then request any objections to going forward with these resolutions. After the session, he suggested that a summary of the Mini Town Meeting would be presented to the community-wide Town Meeting on Friday Oct. 26, and subsequently that our input (resolutions, meeting summary) would be submitted to the NSAC Implementation Subcommittee. David Dean (ORNL) discussed the most compelling questions in nuclear physics from the recent National Academies report: How did visible matter come into being and how does it evolve? How does subatomic matter organize itself and what phenomena emerge? Are the fundamental interactions that are basic to the structure of matter fully understood? How can the knowledge and technological progress provided by nuclear physics best be used to benefit society? Rare isotope science provides answers to these four questions, and FRIB will enable the US to retain world leadership in this field. FRIB will have discovery potential on 80-90% of the isotopes with atomic number less than 90, it will enable the description of a sizable portion of the r-process path for heavy element formation in supernovae, and it will enable us to develop novel isotopes for applications. The overall goals are to understand, predict, and use the information on

2 isotopes for both basic research and societal applications. The current situation is very unfavorable for low-energy research and resulted in lost opportunities and leadership: there has been a recent 20% drop in DOE-funded research, a 40% drop in beam time at low energy facilities, a 30% drop in on-site users, the ceding of US leadership in ISOL capabilities, and the closure of the HRIBF facility. A new integrated national strategy from is needed in rare isotope science that maximizes the use of existing facilities as FRIB is constructed; this strategy should also consider international capabilities. David was asked about the possible implications of a slow down of FRIB construction, and he pointed out that this would cause costs to rise, and might ultimately risk its completion. Thomas Glasmacher (FRIB) then gave a status report on FRIB. He described that this will be the world's most powerful rare isotope facility due to its high energy beams, high acceptance fragment separator, combination of fast and three beam stopping stations for reaccelerated beams, spacious experimental halls, and isotope harvesting capabilities. It will also feature possible upgrades including higher energy (400 MeV/u for uranium and 1 GeV for protons), a second target facility with ISOL capabilities, full multi-user capability, a light-ion driver for operation in parallel with heavy-ion driver, and the doubling of experimental space. The final conventional facilities design is now complete and is now ready for civil construction. He detailed the progress on the quarter- and halfwave resonators, liquid lithium charge stripper, rotating carbon disk fragmentation targets, high-temperature superconducting magnet, and hot cell remote handling. In August 2012, work began to install pilings for the earth retention system, and civil construction approval is anticipated to begin in Spring The final technical design is anticipated to be complete in Spring 2014, and project completion in 2021 with an early completion possible in Rick Casten (Yale) gave a report on the Low Energy Community Meeting held in August 2012 at ANL. This meeting was organized by ANL- ATLAS, MSU - NSCL, ORNL - HRIBF, LBNL, ARUNA (Association for Research at University Nuclear Accelerators), JINA (Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics), and FRIB. The over 300 participants (200+ on-site, 100+ webinar) heard plenary talks on GRETINA, FRIB, low energy facilities, nuclear astrophysics, nuclear theory, HRIBF, and the NSAC LRP Implementation Process. They broke into 15 Working Group meetings, including a halfday astrophysics session. This was followed by a discussion of community priorities and short summaries from the Working Groups, and then additional discussion of priorities and unanimous adoption of a Community Resolution (shown in full below) that includes the statement "We reaffirm in the strongest possible terms the scientific vision of FRIB and endorse... the timely construction of this advanced rare ion beam facility and the initiation of its scientific program". Hendrik Schatz (MSU) gave a report on the Nuclear Astrophysics Town Meeting held in October 2010 in Detroit. This meeting had 150 participants from three communities Nuclear Physics, Astrophysics, and Astronomy. There were 22 plenary talks and 13 working groups that were aimed at generating a white paper with vision of the field in the next decade in light of recent decadal studies in nuclear physics and astrophysics. The

3 discussions were categorized into science topics of Stars, Core Collapse Supernovae, Novae and Type Ia Supernovae, Neutron Stars, and the Big Bang / First Stars / Chemical Evolution. The participants also discussed the tools for studying these objects, such as Observatories, Accelerators / Equipment (including FRIB and SECAR), Computing / Theory (especially multi-d efforts), and the need for Centers to unify the different activities. FRIB showed up as a needed facility in many of the summaries given for the different working groups; for example, FRIB + SECAR was cited as the only real chance for a major step forward in measurements of reaction rates on unstable nuclei. Given the broad impact of FRIB in nuclear astrophysics, a resolution (shown in full below) was passed that began with the statement "Expeditious construction of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is the highest nuclear physics priority for the nuclear astrophysics community". In the Open Discussion portion of the meeting, the questions ranged over topics that highlighted the need for FRIB and its importance to US international leadership in Low Energy Nuclear Physics, the need for low energy facilities with capabilities complementary to FRIB, and the relation of low-energy nuclear physics to applications, the need for faculty positions tied to FRIB, nuclear theory, summer schools, the need for radiochemists, and the interfaces with other sub-fields of nuclear physics and as well as with High Energy Physics. Some interesting points of the discussion were as follows: The need for FRIB: it was stated that the most important thing to preserve in Low Energy Nuclear Physics is a path to the future, and FRIB is our path to future world leadership in this field. Without FRIB, the subfield will wither and stagnate. It was also stressed that the Long-Range plans for Nuclear Physics have always been well thought-up in a bottoms-up process. The field as a whole is strong and that with modest additional funds in our current funding the implementation of the 2007 LRP is still possible. The need for low energy facilities with capabilities complementary to FRIB: It is also recognized that there are opportunities beyond FRIB the subfield needs other smallerscale complementary facilities, theory efforts, research group funding, and equipment development. A national integrated strategy for effective utilization of all Low Energy Nuclear Physics resources is needed during the period leading up to FRIB. While FRIB will be the facility to investigate the most exotic nuclei, other facilities would be most cost effective for studies of stable nuclei or those closer to the line of stability. Such efforts would enhance the scientific output of FRIB and the field as a whole. These other facilities will enable measurements that directly support FRIB, such as stable beam transfer reaction studies to investigate resonances that will be later measured directly at FRIB, as well as detector development and commissioning. It is a strength of Low Energy Nuclear Physics that a distributed effort with FRIB as the core will lead to forefront science and to the best training opportunities for the next generation of scientists. International leadership in Low Energy Nuclear Physics and relation to applications: it is important to be the intellectual leaders in our field and also important to lead in Low Energy Nuclear Physics because certain of our applications (e.g., homeland security and

4 nuclear medicine) should not be outsourced to other countries. It was also pointed out that the basic science and applications must be strongly linked, and that the opportunities for such linkages are a strong justification for FRIB. FRIB has compelling science and relevance to national needs. In the recent decadal study for nuclear physics, applications are integrated with basic science throughout the entire report. This report also has a companion 10 minute video that shows the role of nuclear physics in society. The linking of superb science with applications is also evident in the Stockpile Stewardship Academic Alliance program, which emphasizes forefront science that forms the intellectual foundation for NNSA applied work. Of all the subfields of nuclear physics, the linking with societal needs is strongest in low energy nuclear science. Faculty positions tied to FRIB: it was stated that it is crucial to establish faculty positions linked to FRIB, in a fashion that SURA has done with Jefferson Lab. There has recently been some growth in nuclear structure / nuclear astrophysics faculty hires, and FRIB has been engaged with DOE about such correlated positions. We also need to ensure that there is a pipeline of excellent candidates for such positions by emphasizing training of, and funding for, graduate students and postdocs. Nuclear theory: to assist students who wish to work in nuclear theory, the TALENT (Training in Advanced Low Energy Nuclear Theory) program was created (nucleartalent.org). TALENT aims to provide an advanced and comprehensive training to graduate students and young researchers in low energy nuclear structure and reaction theory. It utilizes a series of lectures, commissioned from experienced teachers in nuclear theory, that will also be put online in web-based courses. It was also stated that a balance in our subfield of approximately 2/3 experimentalists and 1/3 theorists was appropriate, and that requires establishing a pipeline to ensure excellent candidates for future faculty positions in nuclear theory. Summer schools: it was suggested that the numerous summer schools and related training activities in nuclear physics would benefit from better coordination, to avoid overlap in schedules and materials. The nuclearmatters.org website and the DNP website can help with communicating the upcoming schools. The need for radiochemists: a radiochemistry decadal survey released in May 2012 detailed the severe manpower crisis in this field. The current Ph.D. production rate is a factor of 5 to 6 lower than the combined needs of industry, government labs, and universities. FRIB will provide an excellent training ground for radiochemists due to the importance of targetry, rad handling, isotope production, radiological safety, and environmental issues in the success of FRIB. Interfaces with the other sub-fields of nuclear physics: the relationship of the physics at RHIC and JLab with the physics at FRIB and in the Low Energy Community was well described by David Dean in his presentation, and Brad Sherrill mentioned this in the community-wide Town Meeting on Friday, Oct. 26. While these interfaces are important to note, it is also important to state that the Low Energy Nuclear Physics Community in the US needs to make our own world-leading contribution to our subfield, and retain our

5 leadership role in rare isotope science. There is also a connection between nuclear physics and high energy physics, for example in the transition from where quark physics stops and pion physics starts, and also in lattice QCD which is used in both fields. After the Open Discussion, the following two resolutions (from the Low Energy Community Meeting and the Nuclear Astrophysics Town Meeting) were endorsed by consensus and recommended to be communicated to the Full DNP Town Meeting and the NSAC Subcommittee as representing the views of the participants: [1] Resolution from the Low Energy Community Meeting, August 2012 Preamble: The study of atomic nuclei is the core of nuclear science. The frontier of this field lies in the new opportunities and intellectual challenges offered by FRIB s ability to produce intense beams of rare isotopes. This ability will lead to an unprecedented understanding of nuclei, of their role in the cosmos, and studies of fundamental interactions. The field is ideally positioned, as well, to advance applications in medicine, energy, national security, and materials science. The health of this field is required to train the talented national workforce needed to assure continuing societal benefits in these critical areas. FRIB provides an essential and unparalleled opportunity to pursue compelling science and maintain world leadership in this field. Resolution: We reaffirm in the strongest possible terms the scientific vision of FRIB and endorse the recommendations laid out in the 2007 Long Range Plan(a) and the National Academy Decadal Study(b) for the timely construction of this advanced rare ion beam facility and the initiation of its scientific program. Once constructed, FRIB will be the world-leading nuclear physics facility that enables tremendous discovery potential for the physics of nuclei, nuclear astrophysics, and the study of fundamental symmetries, with the added benefit of significant applications potential in many areas of societal importance. Footnotes: (a) Recommendation of the 2007 NSAC Long Range Plan We recommend construction of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, FRIB, a worldleading facility for the study of nuclear structure, reactions, and astrophysics. Experiments with the new isotopes produced at FRIB will lead to a comprehensive description of nuclei, elucidate the origin of the elements in the cosmos, provide an understanding of matter in the crust of neutron stars, and establish the scientific foundation for innovative applications of nuclear science to society. (b) Recommendation of the National Research Council Decadal Study, 2012 Finding: The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams is a major new strategic investment in nuclear science. It will have unique capabilities and offers opportunities to answer fundamental questions about the inner workings of the atomic nucleus, the formation of the elements in our universe, and the evolution of the cosmos. Recommendation: The Department of Energy s Office of Science, in conjunction with the

6 State of Michigan and Michigan State University, should work toward the timely completion of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams and the initiation of its physics program. [2] Resolution from the Nuclear Astrophysics Town Meeting, October 8-10, 2012 Expeditious construction of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is the highest nuclear physics priority for the nuclear astrophysics community. Rare isotope data obtained with the unique and unprecedented capabilities of FRIB will be key to the understanding of the origin of the elements, stellar explosions, and the nature of neutron stars. FRIB ensures that the US scientific community remains at the forefront of interdisciplinary efforts that connect and advance the development of ground- and space-based astronomical observatories, nuclear and accelerator physics and high- performance computing. The urgency of these motivations was reiterated in the 2012 Decadal Study of the National Research Council Exploring the Heart of Matter. We endorse the urgency for constructing FRIB expressed in the report in the strongest possible terms.