Nuclear, Particle, and Weak Interaction Physics of the Big Bang and Steller Collapse

核物理学和核天体物理学处在两个最令人兴奋的最新科学发展的交汇点上：(1)实验驱动的中微子物理学革命；(2)观测天文学能力，特别是宇宙学方面的惊人进展。支持的工作的主要研究目标是利用这一交叉，利用天文学和天体物理学的新发展来探索实验室中不易探索的基本中微子和核物理问题，反之亦然，利用核物理和中微子物理的新见解来更好地了解宇宙。例如，拟议工作的一个关键目标是计算在超新星的致密环境中和非常早期的宇宙中，中微子如何从一种中微子变成另一种中微子，以及这个过程可能对元素的合成意味着什么。另一个目标是利用我们所知道的关于轻核如何在宇宙的最初几秒钟内形成的知识，以及对宇宙微波背景辐射的观测结果，来探测未测量的中微子性质，例如中微子的静止质量。这项工作将有可能推动两个看似互不相交的领域的发展，而核物理是关键支点，这是一个明显的更广泛的影响。另一个是，这个项目应该成为研究生的一个很好的训练场。同样，夸克到宇宙暑期学校和加州大学圣迭戈分校天体物理和空间科学中心的外联工作将向年轻人传达核天体物理学的兴奋之情，从新的博士后和研究生到各种机构的本科生到本科生。

Nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics stand at the intersection point of two of the most exciting recent developments in science: (1) the experimentally-driven revolution in neutrino physics; and (2) the startling recent advances in the capabilities of observational astronomy, especially in cosmology. The chief research objective of the supported work is to exploit this intersection, leveraging new developments in astronomy and astrophysics to probe fundamental neutrino and nuclear physics issues not easily explored in the lab, and vice-versa, using new insights in nuclear and neutrino physics to better understand the cosmos. For example, one key objective of the proposed work is to calculate how neutrinos change from one kind to another in the dense environment of a supernova and in the very early universe, and what this process might mean for the synthesis of the elements. Another objective is to use what we know about how the light nuclei are formed in the first seconds of the universe, together with results of observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation, to probe unmeasured neutrino properties, e.g., the neutrino rest mass. That this work will have the potential to fuel developments in two seemingly disjoint fields, with nuclear physics as the essential fulcrum, is one obvious broader impact. Another is that this project should serve as an excellent training ground for graduate students. Likewise, the Quarks-to-Cosmos Summer School and the UCSD Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences outreach efforts will convey the excitement of nuclear astrophysics to young people, from new postdocs and graduate students to undergraduates to secondary school students at a variety of institutions.