Perspectives of Nuclear Physics in Europe - European Science ...

3. Research Infrastructures and Networking
3.2.4 Travelling Detectors
Large (and heavy) detector set-ups such as magnetic
spectrometers can only be used at one facility. Smaller,
but still very expensive, particle, and specifically γ-ray,
detectors may be moved from one laboratory to another
taking advantage of unique features of their respective
accelerator/experimental equipment. Often γ-ray crystal
balls such as AGATA have been travelling all around
Europe.
AGATA
γ spectroscopy is an essential tool to study nuclear structure
and very rich experimental programmes employing
this technique have been carried out using stable and
radioactive beams.
It is well established that experiments using complex
arrays based on Germanium detectors (such as
EUROBALL, EXOGAM, MINIBALL and RISING) have
delivered important scientifi c results and developed
new technical methods. The expertise to construct the
new AGATA array is built on the successful experience
from these arrays and on the exciting possibilities to
address new physics by investigating nuclei far from
stability, which will be produced at the new or upgraded
accelerator facilities.
Nuclear structure is a very expansive research topic
and using γ spectroscopy one can investigate the different
degrees of freedom characterising the nuclear
many body system, and its underlying interactions. Using
heavy ion reactions and radioactive beams, the structure
of nuclei with numbers of protons and neutrons
much different from those in the valley of stability can
be investigated. Important steps to achieve this goal are
expected with the construction of the European array
AGATA, which is based on a novel γ-ray tracking technique
and thus, when fully completed, is designed to
be orders of magnitude more powerful than all current
γ-ray spectrometers.
The modular design allows the array to be constructed
in phases so that some modules can be used
to carry out specific experimental campaigns at different
laboratories. Agreement has been reached among
various nuclear laboratories to exploit fully the capability
of AGATA in searching for new physical effects when
nuclear structure is investigated at extreme conditions
of isospin, spin and temperature.
The AGATA demonstrator at LNL consists of a subset
of 5 detector units with full tracking capability and
is devoted to the study of nuclear properties far from
stability, with nuclei identified by the PRISMA magnetic
spectrometer. The programme is well connected to
the future experimental campaigns aiming at studying
nuclei further away from the stability line. In fact, the
next experimental campaign at GSI will use the secondary
beams from the Fragment Recoil Separator and in
this connection the previous experiments with RISING
are very valuable. After that, AGATA is planned to be
mounted at SPIRAL or SPIRAL2. For the future physics
programmes at SPIRAL2, NUSTAR at FAIR, and SPES at
LNL, AGATA will be used extensively. The coordination
of the different experimental campaigns using AGATA at
various laboratories is supported via a specific networking
activity within ENSAR in FP7.
The AGATA demonstrator mounted at INFL-LNL in Legnaro, Italy.
48 | Perspectives of Nuclear Physics in Europe – NuPECC Long Range Plan 2010