This award provides funds to operate and maintain the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University (MSU) as a national user facility, to support a broad program in nuclear structure, nuclear astrophysics, precision measurements of fundamental parameters and symmetries, and accelerator science, and to support the research programs of MSU nuclear science faculty. The award will continue NSCL's national and international leadership in these areas by supporting its operation as the nation's premier user facility dedicated to the production and study of rare (short-lived) isotopes. The award will also allow the NSCL to exploit the scientific opportunities newly available with the recently commissioned and world-unique ReA3 beamline accelerator that enables experiments at energies that have not been explored with rare isotopes and are relevant to supernovae and the structure of nuclei. These opportunities have strong overlap with the stated scientific goals of the 2015 NSAC Long Range Plan, and form a coherent trajectory towards the next generation accelerator, FRIB, which is being constructed on the NSCL site. Approximately 80% of those conducting research at the NSCL are from outside MSU and the support of NSCL will serve a broad scientific community. As the nation's largest university-based user facility for nuclear physics, the NSCL will continue to provide unique handson learning opportunities for educating the next generation of nuclear scientists, accelerator physicists, and engineers. Approximately 10% of all nuclear science PhDs awarded in the United States are based on research carried out at the NSCL, and approximately 100 undergraduate students are actively involved in research at the NSCL each year. The laboratory has extensive outreach activities, including facility tours for over 4000 people each year. In addition, research is carried out in application areas such as development of new tools for radiation treatments of cancer, systematic studies of how ionizing radiation affects DNA, discovery of novel atomic and nanostructures in complex materials, and homeland security.
Intense beams of stable isotopes are accelerated using the NSCL's two coupled superconducting cyclotrons, the CCF. The nuclei split into fragments as the beam strikes a stationary target. Each fragment is itself a lighter nucleus, and many fragments are themselves short-lived isotopes. The isotope of choice for a specific experiment is selected by means of a fragment separator: a magnetic chicane that permits only a specific charge and mass through its pathway. The nuclei emerging from the fragment separator form a new beam for use in studying various nuclear reactions. The NSCL has seven end stations to where the isotope beam can be directed and each end station has a variety of target and detector systems to carry out the desired measurements. The NSCL can also bring the unstable isotopes to a complete stop using a dense gas; this in turn enables experiments such as mass measurements using trapping techniques also used in atomic and molecular physics. The ReA3 beamline accelerator reaccelerates stopped isotopes to low energies (well below in-flight levels) for experiments that are important for nuclear astrophysics, including the origin of stellar energy production as well as the dynamics of the birth and death of stars. The reaccelerated beams are directed to one of the end stations for use in various nuclear reactions.
