WoU-MMA: Nuclear Physics at the Notre Dame Nuclear Science Laboratory Providing a Window on the Universe

该奖项延续了圣母大学核结构物理和核天体物理领域八名教员及其学生的研究项目。该计划的重点是直接测量核反应和衰变过程，这些过程决定了恒星的生命，元素的起源，以及为宇宙提供窗口的多信使的产生。这个程序解决了关键的核过程，定义了恒星演化和爆炸过程的时间尺度。另一个组成部分是研究超新星爆炸前恒星生命最后几天的低能聚变反应。该计划还探讨了指导大规模核合成过程的核结构效应。这项研究主要是通过使用圣母大学核科学实验室（NSL）的加速器来完成的，这些加速器是通过一系列实验技术来探测恒星反应的独特设计。实验结果扩展了我们对原子核作为多体量子系统的基本结构的认识；它们还为天体物理学界提供了关于元素起源和宇宙从大爆炸到现在的化学演化的新见解。NSL拥有在大学环境中进行此类研究的独特设备。该奖项将支持大量研究生（约25人）和本科生（约20人）在实验和理论技术方面的培训，为加入国家的核劳动力做好准备。实验方案是基于在NSL使用两个加速器。来自单端5U Pelletron的强稳定离子束用于低能捕获和聚变反应的直接研究。在圣乔治反冲分离器的逆运动学技术中，重离子束被用来研究这种反应。该分离器是独一无二的，可作为FRIB SECAR分离器设计的蓝图。FN串联加速器是一种多用途仪器。它在新扩建的TriSol设施中作为生产放射性光束的驱动器运行，TriSol设施是美国第一个生产低能放射性光束的专用仪器。这些光束可以直接进行反应测量，并捕获在大型国家设施中无法达到的水平的轻放射性粒子。FN还服务于NSL的加速器质谱（AMS）项目，测试地质和宇宙样品的长寿命放射性。大量的核结构实验是基于这台机器的操作，使用各种粒子和伽马能谱技术。该计划的一小部分依赖于使用其他国家和国际设施来利用NSL无法获得的更高能量和更奇特的光束。该项目推进了“宇宙之窗：多信使天体物理学时代”的目标，这是美国国家科学基金会未来投资的十大理念之一。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award continues the research program of eight faculty members and their students in Nuclear Structure Physics and Nuclear Astrophysics at the University of Notre Dame. The program focuses on direct measurements of nuclear reaction and decay processes that determine the life of stars, the origin of the elements, and production of multi messengers that provide a Window on the Universe. This program addresses key nuclear processes that define the timescales of stellar evolution and explosion processes. Another component is the study of low energy fusion reactions during the last days of a stellar life prior to supernova explosion. The program also explores the nuclear structure effects that are guiding large scale nucleosynthesis processes. The research is performed primarily by using the accelerators of the Nuclear Science Laboratory (NSL) at the University of Notre Dame, which are uniquely designed to probe stellar reactions through a number of experimental techniques. The experimental results expand our knowledge of the fundamental structure of the nucleus as a multi-body quantum system; they also provide new insight for the astrophysics community on the origin of the elements and the chemical evolution of the cosmos from the Big Bang to the present. The NSL is uniquely equipped for performing this kind of research in a university environment. The award will support the training of a large number of graduate (approximately 25) and undergraduate students (approximately 20) in experimental and theoretical techniques to be ready to join the nuclear workforce of the nation.The experimental program is based on the use of two accelerators at the NSL. Intense stable ion beams from the single ended 5U Pelletron are used for the direct study of low-energy capture and fusion reactions. Heavy ion beams are used to investigate such reactions in inverse kinematic technique using the St. GEORGE recoil separator. This separator is unique and serves as a blueprint for the design of the SECAR separator at FRIB. The FN tandem accelerator is used as a multi-purpose instrument. It is operated as a driver for the production of radioactive beams at the newly-expanded TriSol facility, the nation's first dedicated instrument for producing low energy radioactive beams. These beams allow direct reaction measurements with and the trapping of light radioactive particles at levels not possible at large national facilities. The FN also serves the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) program at the NSL, testing geological and cosmological samples for long-lived radioactivities. A large number of nuclear structure experiments are based on the operation of this machine using a variety of particle and gamma spectroscopy techniques. A smaller fraction of the program relies on the use of other national and international facilities to take advantage of higher energy and more exotic beams not available at the NSL.This project advances the objectives of "Windows on the Universe: the Era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics", one of the 10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.