This award supports the construction of an array of detectors that will be optimized for studies of low-energy, charged-particle reactions. The reaction studies to be conducted with the array will substantially improve our understanding of energy generation and nucleosynthesis in novae and X-ray bursts, impacting astronomical measurements and their interpretation. New low-energy radioactive ion beam facilities at Florida State University (FSU) and at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University (MSU) promise to provide a wide variety of low-energy beams of short-lived, proton-rich nuclei that have been previously unavailable. The instrument will bring substantial, new capabilities to the laboratories at FSU and MSU, and it will be a resource for the broader user base at those facilities. Similar infrastructure does not exist at those laboratories. The instrumentation will be developed and constructed at Louisiana State University (LSU) and FSU, and will be deployed for experiments at FSU, the NSCL, and possibly other facilities in the future.
The proposed instrument will have a great impact on astrophysics, experimental nuclear physics capabilities in the U.S., and on the education and training of students. This project will heavily utilize both undergraduate and graduate students and will provide an important opportunity for these students to be involved in the hands-on development of state-of-the-art instrumentation in an area of national need. The project will also foster collaboration between the students and faculty at LSU, FSU, and MSU.
