OPPORTUNITIES IN NUCLEAR SCIENCE A Long-Range Plan for ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2. The Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA) is our highest priority for major new construction. RIA will be the world-leading facility for research in nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics. The exciting new scientific opportunities offered by research with rare isotopes are compelling. RIA is required to exploit these opportunities and to ensure world leadership in these areas of nuclear science. RIA will require significant funding above the nuclear physics base. This is essential so that our international leadership positions at CEBAF and at RHIC be maintained. 3. We strongly recommend immediate construction of the world’s deepest underground science laboratory. This laboratory will provide a compelling opportunity for nuclear scientists to explore fundamental questions in neutrino physics and astrophysics. 4. We strongly recommend the upgrade of CEBAF at Jefferson Laboratory to 12 GeV as soon as possible. The 12-GeV upgrade of the unique CEBAF facility is critical for our continued leadership in the experimental study of hadronic matter. This upgrade will provide new insights into the structure of the nucleon, the transition between the hadronic and quark/ gluon descriptions of matter, and the nature of quark confinement. In summary, nuclear science continues to address exciting and vital scientific questions and, thanks to recent investments, is poised for further great discovery. Implementation of this Plan will allow the field to maintain its world leadership position throughout the coming decade. Recent evidence for neutrino mass has led to new insights into the fundamental nature of matter and energy. Future discoveries about the properties of neutrinos will have significant implications for our understanding of the structure of the universe. An outstanding new opportunity to create the world’s deepest underground laboratory has emerged. This facility will position the U.S. nuclear science community to lead the next generation of solar neutrino and doublebeta-decay experiments. 2
1. Overview and Recommendations Nuclear Science Today As we approach the centennial of Rutherford’s discovery of the atomic nucleus, nuclear science remains a linchpin of the U.S. scientific enterprise. Indeed, with its scope enlarged by landmark astrophysical discoveries and by the successful formulation of a theory of subnuclear matter, nuclear science is more broadly compelling and more vital than ever before. Nuclear science began by studying the structure and properties of atomic nuclei as assemblages of protons and neutrons. Research focused on nuclear reactions, the nature of radioactivity, and the synthesis of new isotopes and new elements heavier than uranium. Great benefit, especially to medicine, emerged from these efforts. But today, nuclear science is much more than this. Today, its reach extends from the quarks and gluons that form the substructure of the once-elementary protons and neutrons, to the most dramatic of cosmic events—supernovae. The existence of quarks and gluons was first inferred from the spectrum of elementary particles and from electron-scattering experiments; subsequently, a new theory, quantum chromodynamics (QCD), was developed to describe them. Just as the formulation of Maxwell’s equations led to a quantitative understanding of electromagnetic phenomena in the late 19th century, so the development of QCD a century later has provided the theoretical foundation for understanding nuclear phenomena and is now central to much of contemporary nuclear research. Nuclear science also plays a vital role in studies of astrophysical phenomena and of conditions in the early universe. At stake is a fundamental grasp of how the universe has evolved and how the elements of our world came to be— two of the deepest questions in all of science. The broad scope of nuclear science today intersects with that of several other scientific disciplines. The Standard Model of particle physics—and its possible shortcomings— now lies at the center of much nuclear science research. And high-energy physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics are now closely linked in efforts to investigate the structure and dynamics of cosmic phenomena and to understand the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang. From a theoretical and experimental perspective, strong parallels even exist between the structure of complex nuclei and nanostructures of interest in the emerging field of nanoscience. The impact of the field can be seen not only in basic science, but also in nuclear medicine, nuclear power, national defense programs, and numerous practical applications, from smoke detectors to scanners for explosives. The scientific agenda. Thanks to recent investments by the DOE and the NSF, nuclear science is poised to make major advances in the coming decade. Today, the field can be broadly characterized by five scientific questions that
Page 1 and 2: OPPORTUNITIES IN NUCLEAR SCIENCE A
Page 3: OPPORTUNITIES IN NUCLEAR SCIENCE A
Page 7: Contents Executive Summary . . . .
Page 11: Executive Summary Nuclear science i
Page 15 and 16: OVERVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS spheri
Page 17 and 18: OVERVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS subfie
Page 19 and 20: OVERVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMM
Page 21: OVERVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS recent
Page 24 and 25: Protons and Neutrons: Structure and
Page 26 and 27: THE SCIENCE • PROTONS AND NEUTRON
Page 38 and 39: Atomic Nuclei: Structure and Stabil
Page 40 and 41: nuclear landscape will be the focus
Page 42 and 43: THE SCIENCE • ATOMIC NUCLEI: STRU
Page 46 and 47: Beyond the Proton Drip Line On the
Page 50 and 51: Spinning Heavy Elements If nuclei b
Page 54 and 55: THE SCIENCE • QCD AT HIGH ENERGY
Page 56 and 57: THE SCIENCE • QCD AT HIGH ENERGY
Page 58 and 59: Anatomy of a Heavy-Ion Collision Re
Page 60 and 61: First Results at RHIC v 2 Construct
Page 62 and 63:
THE SCIENCE • QCD AT HIGH ENERGY
Page 64 and 65:
THE SCIENCE • QCD AT HIGH ENERGY
Page 66 and 67:
THE SCIENCE • NUCLEAR ASTROPHYSIC
Page 68 and 69:
Page 70 and 71:
Page 72 and 73:
Galactic Radioactivity The abundanc
Page 74 and 75:
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
Page 80 and 81:
In Search of the New Standard Model
Page 82 and 83:
THE SCIENCE • IN SEARCH OF THE NE
Page 84 and 85:
Looking for the Super Force Physici
Page 86 and 87:
Page 88 and 89:
A History of Neutrinos In the 1930s
Page 90 and 91:
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
FACILITIES FOR NUCLEAR SCIENCE ment
Page 98 and 99:
FACILITIES FOR NUCLEAR SCIENCE cons
Page 100 and 101:
FACILITIES FOR NUCLEAR SCIENCE inte
Page 102 and 103:
FACILITIES FOR NUCLEAR SCIENCE Figu
Page 104 and 105:
FACILITIES FOR NUCLEAR SCIENCE beam
Page 106 and 107:
FACILITIES FOR NUCLEAR SCIENCE mill
Page 108 and 109:
Education and Outreach The educatio
Page 110 and 111:
A Graduate Student Gallery Many gra
Page 112 and 113:
THE NUCLEAR SCIENCE ENTERPRISE •
Page 114 and 115:
Career Paths—Contributing to a Pr
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
THE NUCLEAR SCIENCE ENTERPRISE •I
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE NSCL—which
Page 134 and 135:
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE direction in
Page 136 and 137:
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE will be possi
Page 138 and 139:
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE angles in the
Page 140 and 141:
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE connection be
Page 142 and 143:
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE decades of ex
Page 144 and 145:
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE also has an e
Page 147 and 148:
6. Resources: Funding the 2002 Long
Page 149 and 150:
RESOURCES: FUNDING THE 2002 LONG-RA
Page 151 and 152:
RESOURCES: FUNDING THE 2002 LONG-RA
Page 153 and 154:
144
Page 155 and 156:
NSAC Long-Range Plan Working Group
Page 157 and 158:
Nuclear Science Web Sites Good star
show all

OPPORTUNITIES IN NUCLEAR SCIENCE A Long-Range Plan for ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?