202 FRIB Graduate Brochure

FACILITY FOR RARE ISOTOPE BEAMS
GRADUATE STUDIES
2022
Nuclear Physics | Nuclear Chemistry | Accelerator Science & Engineering
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Cover: A graduate student works with the Separator for Capture Reactions
(SECAR) in the reaccelerator (ReA3) area of the FRIB Laboratory.
Please note: Photos were taken pre-COVID or in line with COVID-19
guidelines at the time taken.
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Contents
Director’s welcome................................................................................................................. 5
Nuclear science at MSU........................................................................................................ 6
Facility for Rare Isotope Beams........................................................................................ 8
FRIB instruments................................................................................................................... 10
FRIB Theory Alliance............................................................................................................12
Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics Center for Evolution
of the Elements.......................................................................................................................13
Accelerator Science and Engineering Traineeship....................................................14
MSU Cryogenic Initiative.....................................................................................................16
Graduate student work...................................................................................................... 20
Graduate student life............................................................................................................21
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging..................................................................22
Women and Minorities in the Physical Sciences .....................................................24
Careers in nuclear science.................................................................................................26
Alumni and student spotlights........................................................................................28
Admissions and degree process.................................................................................... 30
The Lansing area...................................................................................................................33
Michigan State University..................................................................................................36
Faculty list................................................................................................................................38
How to apply..........................................................................................................................85
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# 1 Nuclear science graduate program
-U.S. News & World Report (since 2010)
• FRIB is a federally-designated user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Science (DOE-SC)
• It is a world-leading facility for the production and study of rare isotopes
• It is the largest university campus-based nuclear science laboratory in the
United States
• MSU graduate students in nuclear science have an average time to PhD award
over a year faster than the national average
• As the largest nuclear science facility in the nation, it enables research
opportunities in many areas of rare isotope research
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Director’s welcome
Why do atoms exist? Where did they come from? What do
their properties tell us about the laws of nature? How can we
use accelerator technology and related technology to solve
society’s problems? These are fundamental questions that
graduate-student research in nuclear science, radiochemistry, and
accelerator science at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB)
will answer. What we do and how we answer these questions will
have major implications for our understanding of nature and for
how we address issues related to security, energy, and health.
During the past half-century, researchers were confined
to work with a few hundred isotopes, but now thousands
of new nuclei not found naturally (rare isotopes) are
accessible for experimental research. FRIB, funded by the
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC),
is a pioneer in this new field of rare isotope research and
has world-unique capabilities. What we have learned so
far has had a dramatic impact on how we model atomic
nuclei and understand astrophysical environments. Even
more significant advances are on the way as in the near
future close to 80 percent of all isotopes of elements from
hydrogen to uranium will be available at Michigan State
University (MSU).
This is possible because MSU has established and operates
the next-generation FRIB as a user facility for the U.S.
DOE-SC, supporting the mission of the DOE-SC Office
of Nuclear Physics. FRIB builds upon the expertise and
achievements of the National Superconducting Cyclotron
Laboratory (NSCL), a National Science Foundation (NSF)
user facility at MSU which operated until 2020. FRIB looks
beyond NSCL’s discoveries to envision the next-generation
technology needed for next-generation rare isotope
experiments. Experiments will begin at FRIB when user
operation commences in early 2022.
FRIB is the most powerful rare isotope beam facility and
MSU is poised to become the world hub for rare-isotope
scientists. FRIB opens a vast terrain of unchartered science
to experimental investigations. Today, the ground work
for these discoveries is done by graduate study at FRIB in
nuclear theory, experiment, and accelerator science.
As a DOE-SC national user facility on the campus of
MSU, the laboratory offers unparalleled education and
research opportunities to graduate students, who routinely
meet and work side-by-side with leading researchers in
nuclear physics, nuclear astrophysics, nuclear chemistry,
accelerator physics, and engineering.
Graduate students from the Physics & Astronomy and
Chemistry departments, as well as from the College of
Engineering, conduct research in experimental, theoretical,
and astrophysical nuclear physics, nuclear chemistry, as
well as in accelerator science and engineering and applied
research. Students apply for graduate degrees through
the appropriate MSU department, and FRIB faculty have
joint appointments with FRIB and the corresponding MSU
department. FRIB hosts the Joint Institute for Nuclear
Astrophysics – Center for the Evolution of the Elements
(JINA-CEE), and is the center for the FRIB Theory Alliance.
There is no better way to begin a career in science than
learning and working at a world-leading user facility that
attracts scientists from all over the world in the pursuit
of their research. You will watch, participate in, and lead
discoveries of things no one knew before. In the process
you will develop skills and connections that will enable
you to excel in a wide variety of exciting careers.
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) are a
priority for the laboratory. As a federally funded laboratory
and university, we believe it is imperative that the student
body and workforce are representative of our nation’s
makeup. Users, visitors, students, and employees at the
FRIB Laboratory share a common interest—to contribute
to society through scientific discovery. This venture is best
conducted when everyone is included and valued, and
behaves in a welcoming and respectful manner. Creating
a collegial, inclusive, safe, and supportive environment is
everyone’s responsibility. FRIB wants to be a role model
for DEIB in nuclear physics and develop scalable strategies.
Read more about our efforts on page 22.
Please read through the profiles of our faculty and
description of their forefront research. You will see how
we address the big questions, and we hope you consider
joining us in finding answers.
Thomas Glasmacher, FRIB Laboratory Director
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Nuclear science
at MSU
Nuclear scientists pursue answers to big questions by colliding
atomic nuclei and examining isotopes of the elements that do not
normally exist on Earth. In collisions at half the speed of light, new
isotopes are created in a billionth of a trillionth of one second.
Particle accelerators like FRIB, state-of-the-art computers, and
specially designed equipment make the research possible.
Probe the possibilities of a nuclear science graduate
degree as we probe the mysteries of an atom’s nucleus
in our quest to answer fundamental of questions like how
the elements were formed and what keeps nuclei togeher.
Exploring exotic nuclei
Research at FRIB concentrates on the study of exotic
nuclei, one of the current frontiers in nuclear science.
Compared to the more familiar stable nuclei, these exotic
nuclei have large excesses of either protons or neutrons
and tend to decay quickly, sometimes within fractions
of a second. Experimental groups use the world-leading
capabilities of FRIB to produce exotic nuclei through
fragmentation of accelerated stable nuclei that bombard
a solid target. The exotic fragments are transported to the
experimental stations within hundreds of nanoseconds,
where a wide range of experiments can be carried out
using state-of-the art equipment.
Pursue answers to the most
fundamental questions in nuclear
science through groundbreaking
experiments at FRIB.
Types of experiments
Some experiments determine the existence of a particular
nucleus for the first time, while others stop the nuclei
to study their decay or to measure their mass. Other
experiments have the exotic nuclei bombard another
target and study the ensuing nuclear reactions revealing
information about the internal structure of the nucleus,
or the behavior of nuclear matter during the extreme
temperatures and densities encountered in a nuclear
collision. By building upon the expertise and achievements
of NSCL, experiments at FRIB will reveal many surprising
properties of exotic nuclei and many more remain to be
discovered.
At the laboratory, theorists are working closely with
experimentalists to interpret these results and to use
exotic nuclei as probes to uncover hidden aspects of
the nuclear force that holds together all atomic nuclei.
Understanding this force and building a nuclear theory
that can predict its properties is one of the ultimate goals
in nuclear science.
Exotic nuclei also play an important role in astrophysics.
They are created in stellar explosions such as X-ray bursts
and supernovae, and are believed to exist inside neutron
stars. Often, the decays of exotic nuclei are intermediate
steps in the astrophysical processes that created the
elements in nature. Many FRIB groups work at the
intersection of nuclear physics and astrophysics to address
open questions raised by astronomical observations
concerning the origin of the elements, the nature of stellar
explosions and the properties of neutron stars.
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A research associate and physicist work together in the laboratory at the SOLARIS detector.
The laboratory offers unique opportunities for experiments with fast, stopped,
and reaccelerated beams, together with close collaboration with theory.
FRIB will generate isotopes that have predicted but previously undetected ratios of protons to neutrons.
It will provide researchers with more than 1,000 new isotopes never before produced on Earth.
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Facility for Rare Isotope Beams
After 12 years of construction, the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams
(FRIB) is opening for experiments. This gives you the opportunity to
be among the first researchers with a new window on the universe.
Discover your potential as FRIB’s
discovery potential is unlocked.
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Forty-six cryomodules (green boxes) comprise the FRIB linear accelerator.
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FRIB features
Unprecedented discovery potential
There are some 300 stable and 3,000 known unstable
(rare) isotopes. FRIB will produce and make available for
research these and many undiscovered rare isotopes.
FRIB will enable scientific research with fast, stopped,
and reaccelerated rare isotope beams, supporting a
community of about 1,500 scientists around the world
planning experiments at FRIB.
Supporting the mission of the Office of Nuclear Physics in
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC),
FRIB will enable scientists to make discoveries about
the properties of rare isotopes, nuclear astrophysics,
fundamental interactions, and applications for society,
including in medicine, homeland security, and industry.
FRIB history and status
In December 2008, the DOE-SC announced that MSU
had been selected to design and establish FRIB. At the
heart of FRIB is a high high-power superconducting
linear accelerator that already has been demonstrated
to accelerate ion beams to more than half the speed of
light to strike a target, creating rare isotopes. With these
beam tests demonstrated, FRIB became the highestenergy
superconducting heavy- ion linear accelerator.
Another significant milestone was achieved in September
2020, when FRIB was designated as DOE-SC’s newest
scientific user facility. FRIB adjoins and incorporates the
precedent NSCL facility making effective use of existing
infrastructure. In August 2021, the FRIB Program Advisory
Committee (PAC) peer-reviewed the first set of science
proposals for experiments that will be conducted after
FRIB commences user operation in 2022. The PACrecommended
experiments align with national science
priorities and span FRIB’s four science areas and technical
capabilities.
Funding and future impacts
FRIB is funded by the DOE-SC, MSU, and the State of
Michigan, with user facility operation supported by the DOE-
SC Office of Nuclear Physics. The DOE and the National
Science Foundation have invested over $1 billion to establish
FRIB. Three-quarters was invested in Michigan, and over
94% in the United States. FRIB has strong bi-partisan, bicameral
support from the federal government and a broad
base of research funding across several agencies.
Learn more at frib.msu.edu
• A superconducting-radio frequency
driver linear accelerator (linac) that
provides 400 kW for all beams with
uranium accelerated to 200 MeV per
nucleon and lighter ions to higher energy
(protons at 600 MeV per nucleon).
• Two electron cyclotron resonance (ECR)
ion sources with space to add a third
ECR ion source.
• Space in the linac tunnel and shielding in
the production area to allow upgrading
the driver linac energy to 400 MeV
per nucleon for uranium and 1 GeV for
protons without significant interruption
of the future science program.
• An advanced fragment separator to
select rare isotopes
• Three rare isotope stopping stations
• Experimental areas (47,000 square
feet) for stopped beams, reaccelerated
beams, and fast beams.
• Upgrade options include doubling the
size of the experimental area, adding
a neutron-scattering facility, or the
addition of ISOL or light-ion injection.
• Pre-FRIB science program using the
existing in-flight separated beams
from ReA3 and ReA6 reaccelerators.
Users can be able to mount and test
equipment and techniques and do
science with the beams at all energies
in-situ so that they are immediately
ready for experiments when FRIB is
complete; this allows for a continually
evolving science program while FRIB is
being completed, seamlessly merging
into the FRIB research program.
• A User Relations Office to support
development of user programs.
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FRIB instruments
Imagination, creativity, and scientific knowledge are the lifeblood
of nuclear physics research, but the equipment is the skeleton that
brings form and substance to research. FRIB provides scientific
users with opportunities using fast, stopped, and reaccelerated
beams. To realize the unprecedented discovery potential of FRIB,
exquisite, state-of-the-art experimental instruments are needed.
Instruments
The S800 Spectrograph is a versatile workhorse for fast-beam experiments that can identify the exotic fragments produced
and measure their energies. It combines both high-resolution and high-acceptance in a single device. Combined with target
and detector systems, it addresses a wide range of nuclear science topics covering nuclear structure research and nuclear
astrophysics.
Gamma-rays are detected in the Segmented Germanium Array (SeGA) and gamma-ray energy tracking array (GRETINA),
the scintillation array CAESAR (CAESium iodide ARray), and the 4pi Summing Nal detector (SuN). Protons and light atomic
nuclei are measured and studied in various charged particle detectors, including the High-Resolution silicon strip detector
Array (HiRA). Neutrons are studied with the Neutron Emission Ratio Observer (NERO), the Low-Energy Neutron Detector
Array (LENDA), and the Modular Neutron Array and Large Multi-Institutional Scintillator Array (MoNA-LISA).
One unique feature of FRIB is the opportunity to convert the wide range of rare isotope beams that FRIB can provide at
higher energy into beams that can be reaccelerated. At low energies rare isotopes properties can be studied with high
precision with the ion trap mass spectrometer LEBIT (Low Energy Beam and Ion Trap), the Beta Counting System (BCS),
and the BEam COoler and LAser spectroscopy station (BECOLA).
Reacceleration of the low-energy beams with the ReA facility opens a wide range of science experiments, for example with
the Separator for Capture Reactions (SECAR), an important new instrument for nuclear astrophysics experiments at FRIB,
or the solenoidal spectrometer SOLARIS for a variety of nuclear reaction studies.
Professor Artemis Spyrou with the SuN detector.
Experimental setup with LENDA, S800, and GRETINA.
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Other tools and resources
• FRIB has complete electronics and mechanical
engineering departments and a modern machine
shop equipped with a variety of CNC machines
capable of building complex parts for experimental
equipment.
• If you need something for your research project,
the purchasing department at FRIB is there to
help. Purchasing approval, placement of an order,
and receiving are all handled in-house—saving a
lot of time.
Collaborations
Additionally, students benefit from strong national
and international collaborations, for example the Joint
Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA-CEE) and the
Mesoscopic Theory Center (MTC). In addition, several
FRIB faculty are members of the NUCLEI (NUclear
Computational Low-Energy Initiative) SciDAC project, or
the Center of Excellence for Radioactive Ion Beam Studies
for Stewardship Science. The laboratory is also the focal
point for the FRIB Theory Alliance, an initiative in theory
related to FRIB.
• Graduate students work on personal desktop
computers and have access to the FRIB linux
clusters, as well as to MSU’s high-performance
computing center.
A PhD student inspects BECOLA.
Professor Daniel Bazin (left) works with a
research associate on SOLARIS.
INA.
Professor Hendrik Schatz and members of Joint Institute for Nuclear
Astrophysics (JINA-CEE) collaborate around ANASEN.
Professor Kyle Brown works with a research
associate at HiRA.
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FRIB Theory Alliance
The FRIB Theory Alliance (FRIB-TA) is a coalition of scientists from universities and national laboratories who seek to foster
advancements in theory related to diverse areas of FRIB science; optimize the coupling between theory and experiment; and
stimulate the field by creating permanent theory positions across the country, attracting young talent through the national
FRIB Theory Fellow Program, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations, and shepherding international initiatives.
Nuclear physics pervades the vast history of the universe and is vital to our understanding of where we came from and how we
got here. Together with the experiments at FRIB, the FRIB-TA addresses the overarching questions identified by the National
Academy of Science in the fourth decadal survey of nuclear physics, Exploring the Heart of Matter. Low-energy nuclear theory
and related areas such as astrophysics and fundamental symmetries, coupled to computational science, play a critical role in
answering the overarching questions. The ultimate goal of the FRIB-TA is to maximize the scientific impact of FRIB.
A successful experimental program at FRIB is tightly interwoven with advances in theory. A theoretical assessment of the
scientific impact of experiments can help identify critical measurements by studying the theoretical relevance of the anticipated
experimental outcomes. Theory can also evaluate whether the anticipated experimental uncertainties are adequate to provide
meaningful guidance to theory. Theory should provide input for planning future experiments by isolating observables that are
crucial to model developments, and validating and verifying model-based extrapolations. The FRIB Theory Alliance, working
closely with FRIB experimentalists, will facilitate interactions on topics relevant to current and future FRIB science.
Education initiatives
The FRIB-TA mission includes enabling a broad, modern, and compelling educational curriculum addressing the nuclear
many-body problem and related areas. A thorough knowledge of up-to-date theoretical methods and phenomenology
will be required to tackle the theoretical and experimental challenges that will be faced by the next generation of nuclear
physicists working in FRIB science.
TALENT initiative
The TALENT initiative, which stands for Training in Advanced Low-Energy Nuclear Theory, was created by nuclear
physicists in North America and Europe to address the need for advanced theory courses. Since 2012, TALENT has
offered two or three intensive three-week courses each year on a rotating set of topics. The long-term vision of
TALENT is to develop a coherent graduate curriculum that will provide the foundations for a cross-cutting low-energy
nuclear theory research program, and will link modern theoretical approaches with high-performance computing and
on-going experimental efforts. fribtheoryalliance.org/TALENT/
Survey courses
The FRIB-TA Education Committee is coordinating efforts to produce a survey class exclusively on contemporary research
in nuclear physics, targeted at upper-level undergraduates (although also suitable for beginning graduate students). Fullsemester
survey courses of this type that will serve as pilot versions have been developed recently at MSU and Ohio
State University, both using as textbooks the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) report Nuclear Physics: Exploring
the Heart of Matter and the 2015 NSAC Long Range Plan Reaching for the Horizon. Learn more at fribtheoryalliance.org
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JINA-CEE
Michigan State University is the lead of the Joint Institute for Nuclear
Astrophysics-Center for the Evolution of the Elements (JINA-CEE),
a National Science Foundation Physics Frontiers Center dedicated
to interdisciplinary research at the intersection of nuclear physics
and astrophysics. The goal is to make rapid progress on some of
the most important open questions in this subfield: How were the
elements created in the first billion years after the Big Bang? What can
observations of neutron stars tell us about very high density matter?
Orion image from Hubble Space Telescope, photo courtesy of NASA.
Currently, 19 FRIB faculty members and their groups participate in Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics-Center for the
Evolution of the Elements (JINA-CEE) together with five faculty members in the Astronomy group at the Department
of Physics and Astronomy, and one more in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department. JINA-CEE embeds
research in nuclear astrophysics carried out at FRIB into a large international research network that includes theorists,
other experimenters, computational physicists and astronomers. This unique cross-disciplinary network enables rapid
communication and connects research at new accelerator facilities, observatories, and model codes in new ways.
Cross-disciplinary and collaborative
JINA-CEE is dedicated to educate the next generation of nuclear astrophysicists by providing students with
cross-disciplinary training, and networking and research opportunities which cannot typically be offered by single
institutions. Science topics include: origin of the r-process, X-ray bursts, stellar yields, multi-messenger astrophysics,
galactic chemical evolution, neutron star crusts, stellar burning and first stars. JINA-CEE schools, conferences, and
workshops held at various locations around the world, as well as interactions with JINA visitors, provide additional
training opportunities. Through the International Research Network for Nuclear Astrophysics (IReNA), JINA-CEE is
connected with five other interdisciplinary research networks across 17 countries, which gives our grad students and
postdocs access to multiple mentors, a variety of educational resources and facilities.
Core institutions
Become a next-generation
nuclear astrophysicist
through JINA-CEE’s crossdisciplinary
training,
networking, and research
opportunities
Our annual Frontiers in Nuclear Astrophysics Conference
brings our members and the broader nuclear astrophysics
community together to discuss progress and future
directions related to the understanding of the origin
of the elements and neutron stars. This meeting is
organized and run by our grad students and postdocs.
The first day of the conference consists of a Workshop
for Junior Researchers, which includes research talks and
professional development activities such as: scientific
writing, grant writing, speaking skills, academic and nonacademic
career panels and outreach. To learn more, visit
jinaweb.org or contact Hendrik Schatz (schatz@msu.edu).
Learn more at jinaweb.org and irenaweb.org
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Accelerator
Science and
Engineering
Traineeship
Students completing the curriculum
in the MSU Accelerator Science and
Engineering Traineeship (ASET) program
will be certified, well-trained, and ready
for productive careers in areas where there
are critical workforce needs nationally.
The ASET program offers master’s and
PhD graduate students in physics and
astronomy and engineering an exciting
training opportunity in accelerator science
and engineering.
The ASET program at MSU leverages unique campusbased
equipment, systems, and experts at FRIB,
extensive ASET faculty and research supports in several
MSU academic programs, and collaboration resources at
national laboratories. Partnering academic programs at
MSU include the Department of Physics and Astronomy
and the College of Engineering.
Support graduate assistantships in ASET is provided by
the DOE-SC Office of High Energy Physics, DOE-SC Office
of Nuclear Physics, and the National Science Foundation.
After initial training at MSU, trainees will be placed in
national laboratories to further their training.
The MSU ASET program is part of MSU’s number-oneranked
nuclear physics graduate program, according to
the U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of graduate
schools. Twenty-six percent of U.S. nuclear physics
graduate students receive part of their education at FRIB.
Make ASET an asset to
your career path.
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ASET graduate student works with an instrument in the laboratory.
ASET certification
The ASET certificate includes specialization in one of the
following areas, which are the major ASET areas in the
United States experiencing critical workforce needs:
• Physics and engineering of large accelerators
• Superconducting radio frequency technology
• Radio frequency power engineering
Student opportunities
Students in the ASET program are trained and mentored
by more than 20 MSU faculty members. In addition, more
than 30 PhD scientists and engineers working in ASET
areas at FRIB will enhance the student experience.
Many MSU ASET students supplement MSU courses
through participation in the U.S. Particle Accelerator
School (USPAS), of which MSU Professor Steven Lund is
the director.
ASET students work together with the niobium
superconducting elliptical cavity.
Graduate studies
Graduate assistantships in the ASET program are available
to qualified U.S. graduate students who wish to carry out
their thesis research at FRIB.
The ASET program provides master’s and PhD level
candidates an opportunity to conduct work within a
research group or on a specific project for the purpose
of supporting the student’s thesis work. The university
sets the academic standards and awards the degree in
the specific academic program of study. FRIB strives to
support students through their graduate studies.
The partnerships with DOE national laboratories include
internships, practicums, scientific meetings, focused longor
short-term credit-bearing courses, and workshops
related to professional development of non-scientific
skills (project management, entrepreneurial skills, science
communication, technology transfer) required for large
accelerator design, construction, and operation. The
partnerships integrate ASET students into their research
program beyond the third year and support them until the
completion of their theses.
Learn more at frib.msu.edu/aset.
Train on state-of-the-art
technology at FRIB for indemand
careers in accelerator
science and engineering and
cryogenic engineering.
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Cryogenic engineering students tour the coldbox room.
MSU Cryogenic
Initiative
The demand for cryogenic engineering support has increased in
the last decade. Having FRIB at MSU offers a unique opportunity
to educate and train the next generation of cryogenic system
innovators to prepare them for opportunities in cryogenics
engineering and related fields.
A collaboration between FRIB and the MSU College of
Engineering, the MSU Cryogenic Initiative combines
classroom education with training on cutting-edge
cryogenics, accelerator, and superconducting radio frequency
sciences and technology being established at FRIB.
The MSU Cryogenic Initiative
• Educates and trains future cryogenic engineers and
system innovators;
• Investigates, proposes, and fosters efficient
cryogenic process designs, and research of
advanced cryogenic technologies;
• Sustains a knowledge base of cryogenic technology
and skills;
• Maintains a knowledge base to operate equipment.
Take the initiative to pursue an exciting career
through the MSU Cryogenic Initiative.
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What is cryogenic engineering?
Cryogenic engineering is the design of thermal process
equipment and systems that operate at cryogenic
temperature (that is at or below the temperature
necessary to liquefy natural gas). It requires the:
• Engineering design of complex and interdependent
mechanical-thermal systems;
• Integrated application of mechanical design,
thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer.
Fulfills national need
The demand for cryogenic engineering support has
continued to increased in the last decade. Having FRIB
at MSU offers a unique opportunity to educate and train
the next generation of cryogenic system innovators
to prepare them for job opportunities in cryogenics
engineering and related fields.
Student opportunities
Train with leading faculty, academic staff, and industry
experts. MSU’s engineering program is rated one of the top
in the United States, and is one of the largest and oldest
colleges on the campus. Get hands-on training on FRIB’s
state-of-the-art systems. FRIB will have unprecedented
capabilities to study the fundamental structure of matter.
The 4.5- and 2-kelvin helium refrigeration systems
supporting the superconducting accelerator are stateof-the-art,
enabling world class physics research. There
are also several helium refrigeration systems supporting
laboratory test facilities, including those dedicated to
cryogenic engineering research and development.
Career opportunities for cryogenic
engineers
• DOE laboratories and user facilities (like FRIB)
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• International laboratories
• Large aerospace energy, and industrial corporations
• Many cryogenic-specific companies
Graduate fellowships
Graduate fellowships are available. Self-motivated,
naturally curious, creative, practical, and analytical
graduate students are attractive candidates for fellowships.
Undergraduate thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, heat
transfer, materials engineering, mechanical design, and
computer programming are prerequisites. Advanced
coursework in any or all of these areas is highly desirable.
Learn more at frib.msu.edu/cryo
Student jobs, internships, and careers
Training in cryogenic engineering opens up career
opportunities in various fields. Cryogenic engineering:
MSU Cryogenic Initiative students in the FRIB cryogenic plant.
• Exposes students to coupled fluid-dynamics and
thermodynamics and to real fluid properties and
material properties over a wide temperature range
not typically encountered in industry;
• Requires a clear understanding of engineering
principles, with many opportunities for
complex simulation and modeling, and creative
problem-solving;
• Involves complex and coupled thermal systems and
mechanical designs.
This exposure and experience are assets in many potential
engineering careers. Cryogenic engineering is an industry
with high-paying job opportunities with a present need.
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Graduate
student
work
Seize the unique opportunity
to do research at a national
laboratory located on the
campus of a major research
university
Graduate students work together in the laboratory.
What makes us unique
Experimental science and nuclear theory
• The strong interaction between the experimental and
theoretical scientists and the frequent visitors and
users of the facility creates an open and academically
stimulating atmosphere.
• FRIB is widely recognized for its cutting-edge research
in nuclear science, nuclear astrophysics, accelerator
physics, and engineering. This is evidenced by the
large number of publications in high-quality refereed
journals and invited talks at national and international
conferences.
• Most graduate students are financially supported
with research assistantships when working on thesis
projects. Exceptional students can be awarded an
FRIB fellowship.
• Graduate students in experimental nuclear science will
be involved in all aspects of performing an experiment
at FRIB: writing a proposal which will be reviewed by
an external Program Advisory Committee, designing
an experiment, setting up the hardware, writing data
acquisition and analysis code, analyzing, simulating,
and interpreting the results, and finally writing a
manuscript for a peer-reviewed journal.
• Theory students have access to world experts who
frequently visit the laboratory and collaborate closely
with local faculty.
As the premier rare isotope facility in the United States, FRIB is
a high national priority, as expressed in the recommendations
in the 2015 Long Range Plan of the DOE/NSF Nuclear Science
Advisory Committee. Experimental and theoretical insight
gained at FRIB will lead to a comprehensive description of
nuclei, elucidate the origin of the elements in the cosmos,
provide an understanding of matter in the crust of neutron
stars, and establish the scientific foundation for applications
of nuclear science to society.
Summer-school students gather at the poster session.
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Accelerator physics
Students in accelerator physics participate in the
development of state-of-the-art technologies to create
and manipulate beams of charged particles. Students
greatly benefit from the in-house expertise and resources
associated with running FRIB.
Meaningful work and travel
You will be busy and have wide-ranging experiences as
an FRIB Laboratory graduate student. While COVID-19 is
limiting travel, usually our graduate students:
• take an active part in the organization and daily
business of FRIB and are represented on most
laboratory committees;
• routinely present their new results at important
national and international conferences. This
provides exposure to senior colleagues and helps
in finding new job opportunities after graduation;
• administer their own office space, meet weekly,
and organize their own seminar series;
• contribute to many of the outreach activities
offered through FRIB; and participate in the
governance process of the College of Natural
Science and the Council of Graduate Students.
Networking and friendship
FRIB graduate students also are encouraged to participate
in some of the many student organizations at MSU.
Including:
• Women and Minorities in the Physical Sciences
(WaMPS), an all-inclusive organization founded by
FRIB students and generously supported by the
Physics and Astronomy Department (learn more
on page 22).
• Council of Graduate Students
• Many more through MSU; admissions.msu.edu/
life-at-msu/activities
Graduate students travel to many national and
international conference to study and present their
research. This map represents some of the locations
graduate students have traveled in recent years.
A graduate student stands near the device he uses in the
LEBIT area of the laboratory.
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A student walks through one of the many gardens on campus
Graduate student life
When you are not taking part in exciting, rewarding research at
the laboratory, there is much to do to have an exciting, rewarding
life outside of the laboratory.
The Grand Canonical Ensemble (Physics Choir)
Graduate students gather to make crafts in WaMPS.
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Fun and friendship
The graduate students at FRIB participate in a number of
different groups and activities. To name a few:
• Physics Choir
• Art Afternoons
• Soccer club
• Cycling group
• Laboratory potlucks and barbecues, and weekly
ice cream and bagel socials
• And many others available through MSU
The Grand Canonical Ensemble
(Physics Choir)
Physics Choir is a group of undergraduate, graduate, and
faculty physicists who meet for one hour twice a week to
sing together, just for fun. The choir performs twice a year
at departmental end-of-semester gatherings.
Outreach and enrichment
The graduate student organization, Women and Minorities
in the Physical Sciences (WaMPS), coordinates several
activities throughout the year. Some are enrichment
activities for graduate students, and others are outreach
activities for the community by graduate students. Learn
more about WaMPS later in this brochure.
Life in Lansing
The Lansing region is a nice place to live with a low cost
of living. Home to MSU and the state capital, the region
offers many cultural, sporting, and outdoor activities.
Beyond Lansing, you’re always only a short drive away
from a Great Lake and other recreational, dining, and
cultural opportunities Michigan offers. Read more about
life in Lansing and Michigan later in this brochure.
Art Afternoons
During Art Afternoons, physicists at MSU at any level
(undergrad, grad student, post-doc, staff, faculty, etc.) get
together with other artistically inclined physicists and make
art for a couple hours every week.
Participate in activities outside of research to have a
well-rounded, rewarding experience overall.
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Diversity, equity,
inclusion, and belonging
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) are a priority for the FRIB Laboratory. FRIB aspires to be a role model
for DEIB in nuclear physics in the larger science community
As a federally funded laboratory and university, we believe it is imperative that the student body and workforce
are representative of our nation’s makeup. Users, visitors, students, and employees at the FRIB Laboratory share a
common interest—to contribute to society through scientific discovery. This venture is best conducted when
everyone is included and valued, and behaves in a welcoming and respectful manner. Creating a collegial, inclusive, safe,
and supportive environment is everyone’s responsibility.
We are working to increase representation through an integrated set of programs and strategic relationships to attract
students from Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) to FRIB. MSI programs are key to diversifying the research field and
the workforce. Such diversification will open up new ideas and paths for scientific discovery. Take a look below at the
snapshots of programs FRIB has in place to attract students to physics, starting in high school through faculty placements.
Physicists Inspiring the Next Generation: Exploring the Nuclear Matter (PING) – Summer (two weeks) and
academic year (nine months)
• Collaboration between National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), the National Radio Astronomy
Observatory, and Associated Universities Inc. to focus on multiple levels of physics and astronomy
• Pipeline to high-school students and mentoring from undergraduate students
• Exposure to basic and applied nuclear science and conferences networking
PEGASUS/Director Research Scholars (DRS) – Two-day visit
• Pipeline to undergraduate students
• Exposure to MSU physics and nuclear-physics programs
Physics Immersion – Summer (two weeks)
• Pre-training/skills building prior to attending summer research
• Mentoring program (MSU Summer Research Opportunities Program/Alliances for Graduate Education and
the Professoriate) for transition to graduate school
MSI fellowship – One-year transition program (Virginia State University and Morgan State University)
• Postdocs/graduate students transition to faculty position at MSIs
• 100 percent MSU support with MSI teaching opportunity
Students Training and Engagement Program for Undergraduates
in Physics (STEP-UP)
• Non-scientist personnel from MSI community
• Holistic approach for recruitment and retention
Institute for Nuclear Science to Inspire the next Generation of a
Highly Trained workforce (INSIGHT)
• INSIGHT is a nationwide resource center for the U.S.
Department of Energy
• Current partners: Historical Black Institutions (9) and
Historical Hispanic Institutions (2)
Participants in the ‘Physicists Inspiring the
Next Generation (PING): Exploring the
Nuclear Matter’ program take part in activities
at FRIB and NSCL.
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Women and
Minorities in
the Physical
Sciences
Help encourage
greater diversity
in the physical
sciences through
WaMPS
Mentoring program
Women and Minorities in the Physical Sciences
(WaMPS) is a graduate student organization
at Michigan State University that strives to
promote diversity in the physical sciences by
encouraging women and minorities to pursue
the field, as well as working to create an
inviting and supportive community for those
who are already part of the physical sciences.
WaMPS aims to include students from all
backgrounds, so our group is comprised of a
variety of students in the physics department
(and some nuclear chemists).
Outreach
WaMPS holds a variety of events each semester. We
meet monthly to discuss articles or hold workshops
about different topics relevant to women and
minorities in the field. WaMPS has also taken field
trips to museums or to see relevant movies, such as
Hidden Figures, and ‘The Theory of Everything’. We
host games nights and barbecues.
WaMPS strives to create a program which fosters
collaboration and professional growth in a laid back,
relaxed atmosphere. We offer a variety of mentoring
events and programs for students in different stages
of their education and professional development.
WaMPS also has a strong outreach program at MSU and within
the greater Lansing area. The Outreach Program has put
together a series of interactive demonstrations to teach about
various topics, including electricity and magnetism and states
of matter. These are presented at various outreach events
(Impression 5 Science Center, MSU Girl Scout Day STEM Day,
and many more) to share our excitement about science with
younger generations.
Science and Learning at Michigan State
(SL@MS)
This is a summer science experience for local middle school
students. During the SL@MS program, students practice
science skills in a personalized and student-driven environment
through experimentation, competition, and demonstration.
Throughout the camp, students also gain knowledge about
waves and their applications in lasers, radios, sound, and more!
Find us on Facebook or email us at wamps@msu.edu.
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Careers
MSU Cryogenic
Initiative students
pictured in the FRIB
cryogenic plant.
Your success as a graduate student is
important to us. Our graduates are in high
demand, and they are the best testimony
to the quality of our top-ranked graduate
education program.
As a nuclear or accelerator physicist, engineer, or nuclear chemist educated
at FRIB, you are well positioned to pursue a variety of career paths. You are
expertly trained to do research at a university, at a national laboratory or in
an industrial setting. You are well-qualified to teach at a small college or a
large university. You can pursue science policy or specialize in business. You
can work for the U.S. Patent Office, on Wall Street, or at the Mayo Clinic. If
you are not sure which direction to take, we have a large network of FRIB
laboratory alumni who will gladly speak with you about their professions.
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FRIB laboratory graduates now occupy many important positions at universities,
national laboratories, and the private sector, making valuable contributions to
society in many different areas.
Recent FRIB and NSCL graduates now work on cancer therapy, airport antiterrorist
safety, environmental protection, weapons safeguards, national
security, nuclear fusion, and radiation safety of space travel. Others have chosen
careers where they apply their problem solving and goal-oriented teamwork
skills in diverse areas of the economy, including car manufacturing, electronics,
computing, and finance.
Theory PhD students discuss ideas.
An experimental research assistant works in the laboratory.
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Alumni and
student
spotlights
Crispin Contreras-Martinez, PhD in
Physics, 2021
Crispin Contreras recevied a PhD in physics at MSU, where
Peter Ostroumov served as his advisor. Crispin joined MSU’s
Accelerator Science and Engineering Traineeship (ASET)
program in October 2017. He studied the electromagnetic
and mechanical properties of medium beta superconducting
elliptical cavities. Crispin’s thesis project was to understand
the limitations of fast tuners based on piezo actuators.
Superconducting linear accelerators (linacs) can provide
high-power proton and ion beams in continuous-wave
(CW) or pulsed-mode operation. Linacs have become an
important tool for research in many fields such as high
energy physics, nuclear physics, and material science just
to name a few. He is studying control algorithms and the
development of reliable piezo tuning systems with long
lifetime for applications both in CW or pulsed linacs. With
the support of the ASET program, Crispin is continuing his
research at Fermilab as a an engineering physicist, working
with collaborators who have extensive resonance-control
experience. While at Fermilab he will work to develop
algorithms and hardware for his project, and aims to
present his results at international conferences such as the
International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC), the
Linear Accelerator Conference (LINAC), or the International
Conference on Superconducting Radiofrequency (SRF). In
2017, Crispin was one of 52 graduate students from across
the nation selected for the Office of Science Graduate
Student Research Program. The award supported him for
up to one year of research under the supervision of a DOE
laboratory scientist.
Kalee Fenker, PhD in Nuclear
Chemistry, 2017
Kalee (Hammerton) Fenker earned a PhD in nuclear
chemistry at Michigan State University. She is currently
a staff scientist in the nuclear measurements group at
Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). During her
time at NSCL from 2013 to 2017, Kalee’s research focused
on heavy ion fusion reactions. She looked at how varying
the neutron richness of the entrance channel components
affected the reaction dynamics. She also built several
parallel plate avalanche counters for the Coincidence
Fission Fragment Detector, a device built to facilitate
this type of research at NSCL. After leaving NSCL, Kalee
started working at SRNL and has been there for four years.
Her team provides boutique radiochemical analyses for
all of the facilities on the Savannah River site and several
offsite customers across the U.S. Department of Energy
complex. They have specialized radiochemical analyses
for over 75 different radioactive isotopes. Kalee said her
time at NSCL was instrumental in her career path. She
said she uses the nuclear-science knowledge she gained
at NSCL each day to help customers understand the
radiochemical composition of their products. For Kalee,
what stands out most from her time at FRIB/NSCL are all
of the people she met while at the laboratory. She said
her advisor, Professor Dave Morrissey, went out of his way
to help her with her project when she needed assistance.
She also values all that she learned while building their
equipment in the detector laboratory. Fenker said she met
many lifelong friends, including two of her bridesmaids,
while at NSCL.
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Njema Frazier, PhD in Theoretical Nuclear Physics, 1997
Njema Frazier earned her PhD in theoretical nuclear physics from MSU in 1997 under the mentorship of Alex Brown.
She focused on theoretical nuclear structure, using the Shell Model to calculate transitions from excited states of
sd-shell nuclei. Beyond research, she was active in multiple civic and outreach organizations—at one point serving
as the Afterschool Coordinator at the Black Child & Family Institute in Lansing, Michigan. Her interests in physics,
policy, and education led her to pursue a career in science policy, and she has worked in the federal government
for twenty-one years. In the legislative branch Njema served as a professional staff member for the U.S. House
of Representatives Committee on Science. Following that, she joined the Department of Energy (DOE), National
Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) where she served as physicist, acting deputy, and acting director for a
number of NNSA’s flagship scientific and technical programs established to ensure the United States maintains a
safe, secure, and effective nuclear weapons stockpile without explosive nuclear testing. Njema is now a member
of the Senior Executive Service and the director of the Office of Experimental Sciences at NNSA. As director, she
serves as a senior expert in the field of experimental sciences and related research and development, as applied to
the behavior and reliability of nuclear weapons. Njema is a strong STEM promoter and has been featured regularly
online, in print, and on TV, including: Diverse Faces of Science, the Grio’s List of 100 History Makers in the Making,
the Black Enterprise Hot List, the Essence Power List, the EBONY Power 100 List, and most recently, the Black Girls
Rock! Awards, where she was honored as the STEM Tech Recipient for 2017.
“Take the time to get to know people as individuals, build relationships,
and find common ground. Don’t be afraid of failure: if you haven’t
failed, you aren’t trying hard enough to succeed. Nurture your interests
inside and outside of science. You never know when your unique blend
of knowledge, skills, and interests will make the difference.”
- Words of wisdom from Njema Frazier
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Ania Kwiatkowski, PhD in Physics,
2011
Ania Kwiatkowski received her PhD in physics from
MSU in 2011. Her research at NSCL was under the
supervision of Georg Bollen at the Penning trap
mass spectrometry LEBIT facility. Her thesis work
included the high-precisions mass measurement of
32Si (silicon), which provided the most stringent test
of the Isobaric Multiplet Mass Equation at the time
and she added the new ion manipulation technique
called Stored Waveform Inverse Fourier Transform
ion excitation to the LEBIT portfolio.
As a graduate student at MSU, Ania brought
students together to engage them in activities
such as the Women and Minorities in the Physical
Sciences (WaMPS) program. She continued her
career as a postdoctoral researcher at TRIUMF,
Canada’s national particle accelerator center, at
its TITAN ion trap facility. She then accepted an
assistant professorship position at Texas A&M. Ania
is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria
in British Columbia. In 2018, the American Physical
Society awarded her Ania with the 2018 Stuart Jay
Freedman Award in Experimental Nuclear Physics.
The award recognizes outstanding early career
experimentalists in nuclear physics. She received the
award for “outstanding and innovative contributions
to precision mass measurements, commitment to
mentoring of young researchers, and leadership in
the low energy nuclear physics community.”
Zach Meisel, PhD in Nuclear Physics,
2015
Zach Meisel received a PhD in nuclear physics from MSU
in 2015. From 2008-2015, Zach was a research assistant
at NSCL where he studied the nuclear physics of extreme
stellar environments under the guidance of Hendrik
Schatz. Day-to-day work at NSCL included analyzing
data and developing components for an advanced
charged particle detector. For his thesis experiment, he
measured the mass of eighteen nuclei, seven of which
were measured for the first time, via the time-of-flight
method at NSCL. Zach’s thesis, “Extension of the Nuclear
Mass Surface for Neutron-rich Isotopes of Argon through
Iron,” won the 2015 MSU Physics Department Sherwood
K. Haynes Award for being the most outstanding graduate
student in physics or astrophysics. In 2015, Zach continued
postdoctoral research at the University of Notre Dame,
where his primary responsibilities were commissioning
and performing the first science experiments with the St.
George Recoil Separator. Zach currently is an associate
professor of physics and astronomy and director of the
Edwards Accelerator Laboratory at Ohio University,
working with the origin of the elements and the behavior
of matter at extreme densities and low temperatures. Zach
is also a member of the Institute of Nuclear and Particle
Physics, and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics.
In 2018, he received a U.S. Department of Energy Office
of Science Early Career Research Program award. Zach
has an active experimental program at NSCL and will
continue it at FRIB.
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Scott Suchyta PhD in Chemistry, 2014
Scott Suchyta received a PhD in chemistry from MSU in 2014 for his research at NSCL. He
worked with Sean Liddick at NSCL in the Decay Spectroscopy Group. As a graduate student,
Scott also engaged with students in other activities such as Women and Minorities in Physical
Sciences program (WaMPS). In 2014, Scott continued as a postdoctoral scholar at University
of California (UC) Berkeley, working with the Ultra High-Rate Germanium Detector where he
measured, recorded, and analyzed data using C++ or Matlab. At UC Berkeley, Scott worked with
the COHERENT collaboration where he wrote software (primarily with C++/ROOT) to optimize
various neutron-gamma pulse-shape discrimination techniques for liquid scintillator detectors.
As a separate effort at UC Berkeley, Scott oversaw the work of several undergraduate research
students in the RadWatch program. The students monitored radioactivity in the environment
through measurements. Scott additionally initiated a new project to determine the amount of Po-
210 (pure alpha emitter) in organic samples. The quantification requires the use of a radioactive
tracer, and Scott accordingly established a small radiochemistry lab space implementing proper
safety measures for handling radioactive liquids, leading to the first measurements being made.
Since 2016, Scott has worked as a senior scientist at the Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL)
located at Joint Base Andrews. At RSL, DOE radiological/nuclear emergency response efforts are
supported, and Scott is currently engaged in the Aerial Measuring System (AMS), Nuclear Search
Program (NSP), and Consequence Management (CM) Programs.
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Admissions and
degree process
We are committed to providing the highest quality graduate education in nuclear science,
nuclear astrophysics, accelerator physics and related instrumentation technologies. Our
process is part of MSU’s top-ranked nuclear physics graduate program. Apply today to
accelerate your journey to a rewarding career.
1. Apply
The degree requirements and curricula differ, depending
on whether you are in the Department of Chemistry,
Department of Physics and Astronomy, or the College
of Engineering. We refer you to the corresponding
departments for application procedures and admission,
course, and degree requirements.
5. Complete your program, advance to a
rewarding career
After you advance to PhD candidacy, it usually takes two
to four years to complete the original research that forms
the basis for your dissertation.
2. Individualized curriculum
Based on your background, the graduate advisors in each
department will put together an individual curriculum
for you. Students accepted into the graduate program
at FRIB receive teaching or research assistantships. At
FRIB, your first contact point is the Associate Director
(AD) for Education, who will discuss with you the various
options and opportunities for research topics. The AD for
Education will continue to serve as contact between you,
FRIB, and your respective department for the duration of
your thesis studies.
3. Research toward thesis
Graduate students at FRIB will perform their research
under the guidance of a faculty member. Faculty can
serve as the direct thesis supervisor, as they have either
joint or adjunct appointments at one of the departments.
The research environment at FRIB is collaborative, and
the connection between individual research groups is
strong. For example, within a collaboration a professor in
the Department of Physics and Astronomy can supervise
a chemistry student and vice versa. After you choose your
area of research, you will form your guidance committee,
which will meet with you at least once a year to ensure
satisfactory progress towards your degree.
4. Put in the work
All graduate students actively participate in research
discussion, nuclear seminars, departmental colloquia
and the daily laboratory business. Essential to a doctoral
degree is that you develop and then demonstrate the
ability to conduct vital, independent research. To become
an independent researcher, you will need to develop a set
of proficiencies.
A graduate student reads over results at a poster session.
QUESTIONS?
CONTACT FRIB EDUCATION:
Heiko Hergert, Associate Director for Education,
gradschool@frib.msu.edu
Tabitha Pinckney, Educational Program Coordinator,
pinckney@frib.msu.edu
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Collaboration in the cleanroom.
A graduate student works on the beamline in LEBIT.
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Previous lab outings have included enjoying a night out together at a local baseball game.
Movies are shown outside in downtown East Lansing during the summer.
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The
Lansing area
Capital city
Lansing, Michigan’s capital city, is centrally located in Michigan’s Lower
Peninsula. The greater metropolitan area has a population of approximately
460,000 and is home to several large industries. The city offers a variety of
restaurants, the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, a number of theater companies,
and the Lansing Lugnuts baseball team. The Impression 5 Science Center, the
R.E. Olds Transportation Museum, and the Michigan Historical Museum attract
visitors from throughout the region. Major local employers include MSU,
the state government and General Motors. Several high-tech companies are
located in the area, including the Michigan Biotechnology Institute, BioPort
Corporation and Neogen Corporation.
There is a large scientific community in the Lansing area which, along with MSU,
is due in part to the presence of a number of the State of Michigan research
laboratories in the area, including the Department of Agriculture, the Department
of Natural Resources, the Department of Public Health Laboratories, and the
Michigan State Police Crime Labs.
In addition to MSU, Lansing Community College, the Thomas M. Cooley Law
School, and Davenport College are all located in the capital city area, and the
MSU College of Law is housed on the MSU campus.
East Lansing
Complementing campus life is the city of East Lansing, which surrounds the
northern edge of the MSU campus. East Lansing is noted for its congenial
atmosphere and tree-lined avenues. Shops, restaurants, bookstores, cafés,
malls, and places of worship serve the students’ needs. East Lansing provides
students with a relaxing and stimulating environment for their graduate school
experience.
Natural wonders
Situated in the heart of the Great Lakes region of the United States, MSU’s
East Lansing campus is centrally located to not only metropolitan areas such
as Chicago and Detroit, but to outstanding natural resources and to northern
Michigan’s world-class summer and winter resorts. Michigan’s Upper
Peninsula is an unspoiled area of immense natural beauty with a population
density of less than twenty persons per square mile. It offers many unique
“getaway” opportunities for all seasons. The Lansing area itself provides a
variety of recreational opportunities including many golf courses, boating
and beach life at Lake Lansing in the summer, and cross-country skiing in the
winter. Hunting and fishing opportunities also are found widely throughout
the state.
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Michigan State
University
A brief history
In 1855, the Michigan State Legislature passed Act 130, which provided for the establishment of the “Agricultural
College of the State of Michigan,” which came to be known as the Michigan Agricultural College (MAC). MAC was
formally opened and dedicated on May 13, 1857, in what is now East Lansing. MAC was the first agricultural college in
the nation, and served as the prototype for the 72 land-grant institutions that were later established under the Federal
Land Grant Act of 1862, unofficially known as the “Morrill Act” after its chief sponsor, Senator Justin Morrill of Vermont.
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The campus
The East Lansing campus of MSU is one of the most
beautiful in the nation. Early campus architects designed
it as a natural arboretum with 7,000 different species
of trees, shrubs, and vines represented. The Red Cedar
River bisects the campus; north of the river’s tree-lined
banks and grassy slopes is the older, traditional heart of
the campus. Some of the existing ivy-covered red-brick
buildings found in this part of campus were built before
the Civil War. On the south side of the river are the more
recent additions to campus — the medical complex, the
veterinary medical center, and most of the science and
engineering buildings.
Academics
There are approximately 50,000 students enrolled at
MSU — from every state and more than 130 countries.
Of these, approximately 11,000 are in graduate and
professional programs. MSU leads all public universities
in attracting National Merit Scholars, and is also a leader
in the number of students who win National Science
Foundation Fellowships. MSU was the first university to
sponsor National Merit Scholarships.
A student walks through a garden outside the MSU
Library.
If students are the lifeblood of a campus, then the faculty
is the heart of a great university. The more than 5,700
MSU faculty and academic staff continue to distinguish
themselves, and include members in the National Academy
of Sciences, and honorees of prestigious fellowships such
as the Fulbright, Guggenheim, and Danforth.
University-wide research has led to important
developments throughout MSU’s history. Early research
led to important vegetable hybrids and the process
for homogenization of milk. More recently, the world’s
widest-selling and most effective type of anti-cancer
drugs (cisplatin and carboplatin) were discovered at MSU.
The courtyard garden outside of the FRIB
Laboratory.
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Recreation
Many recreational activities are available on campus and
in the Lansing area. Walking and running trails, available
extensively throughout the campus, take you through
protected natural areas along the Red Cedar River. MSU
has two 18-hole golf courses available to students, faculty,
and staff. There are three fitness centers that provide
basketball, handball and squash courts, exercise machine
rooms, and aerobic workouts. Two indoor ice-skating
rinks, an indoor tennis facility, more than thirty outdoor
tennis courts, and five swimming pools are accessible as
well. In both summer and winter, local state parks such
as Rose Lake offer many outdoor activities. In Michigan,
snow is not a problem, but an activity, so bring both crosscountry
and downhill skis. And your snowboards, too!
MSU, which was admitted into the Big Ten in 1948, has a
rich tradition in athletics. MSU first competed in conference
football in 1953, sharing the title that year with Illinois.
Since that time, MSU has enjoyed considerable success
in Division I athletics, including NCAA titles in basketball
and hockey, and our football team brought home a Rose
Bowl Victory in 2014. Graduate students, faculty, and
staff are strong supporters of the athletic programs,
which offer opportunities for social interactions outside
of the laboratory.
Events
The arts have flourished at MSU, especially in the past
two decades after our impressive performing arts facility,
the Wharton Center for Performing Arts. The Wharton
Center’s two large concert halls are regularly used for
recitals, concerts, and theater productions by faculty,
student groups, and visiting and touring performing
artists. Wharton Center brings to our campus dozens
of professional musical and theatrical groups each year.
MSU is also home to the Jack Breslin Student Events
Center, a 15,000+ seat arena that is home to the MSU
Spartan basketball team and also plays host to worldclass
concerts and attractions.
Two facilities that offer both educational and recreational
opportunities are the MSU Museum and the Eli and
Edythe Broad Art Museum. The MSU Museum houses
documented research collections in Anthropology,
Paleontology, Zoology, and Folklife, and regularly hosts
traveling exhibits. The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum
is a premier venue for international contemporary art,
featuring major exhibitions, and serving as a hub for the
cultural life of MSU, the local and regional community, as
well as international visitors. The building was designed
by the world-renowned, Pritzker-Prize-winning architect,
Zaha Hadid. The international exhibition program and a
wide variety of performances, films, videos, social actions,
and art interventions situate the Broad at the center of
the international art dialogue.
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Faculty List
• Daniel Bazin, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Scott Bogner, Theoretical Nuclear Physics
• Georg Bollen, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Alex Brown, Theoretical Nuclear Physics
• Edward Brown, Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics
• Kyle Brown, Nuclear Chemistry
• Kaitlin Cook, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Sean Couch, Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics
• Pawel Danielewicz, Theoretical Nuclear Physics
• Alexandra Gade, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Rao Ganni, Accelerator Engineering
• Paul Gueye, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Yue Hao, Accelerator Physics
• Heiko Hergert, Theoretical Nuclear Physics
• Morten Hjorth-Jensen, Theoretical Nuclear Physics
• Masanori Ikegami, Accelerator Physics
• Hironori Iwasaki, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Pete Knudsen, Accelerator Engineering
• Dean Lee, Theoretical Nuclear Physics
• Steven Lidia, Accelerator Engineering
• Sean Liddick, Nuclear Chemistry
• Steven Lund, Accelerator Physics
• Bill Lynch, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Guillaume Machicoane, Accelerator Physics
• Paul Mantica, Nuclear Chemistry
• Kei Minamisono, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Wolfgang Mittig, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Fernando Montes, Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics
• Oscar Naviliat, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Witek Nazarewicz, Theoretical Nuclear Physics
• Filomena Nunes, Theoretical Nuclear Physics
• Brian O’Shea, Theoretical Nuclear Physics
• Peter Ostroumov, Accelerator Physics & Engineering
• Scott Pratt, Theoretical Nuclear Physics
• Ryan Ringle, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Kenji Saito, Accelerator Physics
• Hendrik Schatz, Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics
• Greg Severin, Radiochemistry
• Bradley Sherrill, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Jaideep Taggart Singh, Experimental Atomic & Nuclear
Physics
• Artemis Spyrou, Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics
• Andreas Stolz, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Betty Tsang, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Jie Wei, Accelerator Physics & Engineering
• Christopher Wrede, Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics
• Yoshishige Yamazaki, Accelerator Physics &
Engineering
• Richard York, Accelerator Physics
• Remco Zegers, Experimental Nuclear Physics
• Vladimir Zelevinsky, Theoretical Nuclear Physics
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Daniel Bazin
Research Senior Physicist
and Adjunct Professor of Physics
Keywords: Nuclear Structure, Nuclear Reactions, Time Projection Chamber,
Exotic Nuclear States High Luminosity Detectors
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• BS, Physics National Institute for Applied Science,
Rennes, France 1984
• PhD, Nuclear Physics University of Caen, France 1987
• Joined the laboratory in 1994
• bazin@frib.msu.edu
Research
The focus of my research is centered on the study of
exotic nuclei and the most efficient ways to unravel their
properties. It is now well established that these radioactive
nuclei—which depart from the usual balance of the number
of protons and neutrons—have very different properties
than the stable ones. Their structures, shapes, and modes
of excitation can reveal new phenomena, such as haloes
or molecular states for instance, that are essential to our
understanding of the forces that bind nuclei together via
comparison with theoretical models. Finding the most
sensitive and relevant experimental methods to reveal
these phenomena has been the focus of my career since
its beginning.
sensitivity of such measurements, as the low number of nuclei
in the target must be compensated by large intensities in the
beams. The Active Target Time Projection Chamber, or AT-TPC,
is a novel type of detector where the gas volume is at the same
time a target and a detector medium. By literally detecting the
reaction within the target itself, this new technique alleviates
the shortcomings of the traditional solid target method. This
detector is especially well suited for all reactions where the
recoil particles have very low energy.
Selected Publications
Mechanisms in knockout reactions, D. Bazin, R.J. Charity,
R.T. de Souza, et al. Physical Review Letters 102, (2009)
232501
Study of spectroscopic factors at N = 29 using isobaric
analogue resonances in inverse kinematics, J. Bradt et al.,
Physics Letters B, Volume 778, (2018) 155
Low energy nuclear physics with active targets and
time projection chambers, D. Bazin, T. Ahn, Y. Ayyad, S.
Beceiro-Novo, A. O. Macchiavelli, W. Mittig, J. S. Randhawa,
Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics, Volume 114,
(2020) 103790
There are several “tools” available to the physicist to study
the properties of nuclei, but those I am concentrating my
research on all involve reacting nuclei together. When it
comes to exotic nuclei however, they can only be produced
in the laboratory as particle beams, and are usually the
heavier particle of the pair. This inverse kinematics situation
has important implications on the techniques used to detect
and characterize the particles emitted after the reaction. The
two techniques I am actively pursuing are nucleon removal
reactions at high energy, and low energy reactions using a
novel type of detector called active target.
More specifically, I am conducting an experimental program
aimed at using and studying in detail one of the most successful
type of reactions used to study the structure of very rare
exotic nuclei, because it uses inverse kinematics to boost the
luminosity of the experiments. These nucleon removal reactions
are peripheral collisions where one or two nucleons at most are
removed from a fast moving projectile. The aim of my program
is to understand the reaction mechanisms that take place during
such collisions, and validate the theory that is used to model
them in order to deduce useful information on the structure of
both the projectile and residual nuclei.
On the other hand, I am developing a new type of detector
particularly well designed for lower energy collisions, such as
transfer reactions or resonant scattering for instance. Low energy
reactions require the use of very thin targets to preserve the
characteristics of the emitted particles. This severely limits the
Pad plane projection of an event recorded in the AT-TPC
during an experiment where a 22Mg radioactive beam was
reacted with an 4He target. The small dot at the center of
the figure is the projection of the beam track, normal to
the figure, while the three other tracks show the emission
of three protons during the reaction. These tracks have the
shape of spirals because of the magnetic field applied in
the active volume of the AT-TPC. Some scattered noise is
also visible in this event display.
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Scott Bogner
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Many-Body Theory, Computational Physics, Equation of State
Theoretical Nuclear Physics
About
• BS, Nuclear Engineering, University of Cincinnati,
1996
• PhD, Theoretical Physics, SUNY Stony Brook, 2002
• Joined the laboratory in July 2007
• bogner@FRIB.msu.edu
Research
My research focuses on applications of renormalization
group (RG) and effective field theory (EFT) methods to
the microscopic description of nuclei and nuclear matter.
EFT and RG methods have long enjoyed a prominent role
in condensed matter and high energy theory due to their
power of simplification for strongly interacting multi-scale
systems. More recently, these complementary techniques
have become widespread in low-energy nuclear physics,
enabling the prospect for calculations of nuclear structure
and reactions with controllable theoretical errors and
providing a more tangible link to the underlying quantum
chromodynamics.
The use of EFT and RG techniques substantially simplifies
many-body calculations by restricting the necessary
degrees of freedom to the energy scales of interest. In
addition to extending the reach of ab-inito calculations
by eliminating unnecessary degrees of freedom, many
problems become amenable to simple perturbative
treatments. Since a mean-field description now becomes
a reasonable starting point for nuclei and nuclear matter,
it becomes possible to provide a microscopic foundation
for extremely successful (but largely phenomenological)
methods such as the nuclear shell model and nuclear
density functional theory (DFT) that are used to describe
properties of the medium-mass and heavy nuclei.
My research program presents a diverse range of research
opportunities for potential PhD students, encompassing
three different (but interrelated) components that offer
a balance of analytical and numerical work: 1) in-medium
effective inter-nucleon interactions, 2) ab-initio methods
for finite nuclei and infinite nuclear matter, and 3) density
functional theory for nuclei.
interactions, constructing next-generation shell model
Hamiltonians and effective operators via RG methods, and
developing microscopically based density functional theory
for nuclei.
Selected Publications
Nonempirical Interactions from the Nuclear Shell Model:
An Update, S.R. Stroberg et al., Ann. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci.
69, no. 1, (2019).
Microscopically based energy density functionals for
nuclei using the density matrix expansion, R. Navarro-
Perez et al., Phys. Rev. C 97, 054304 (2018).
Nonperturbative shell-model interactions from the inmedium
similarity renormalization group, S.K. Bogner et
al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 142501 (2014).
Ground-state energies of closed shell nuclei without
(top) and with (bottom) 3N forces at different resolution
scales {lambda}. 3N forces are crucial to reproduce the
experimental trend (black bars) in the calcium isotopes.
Topics that could form the basis PhD research in my group
include: calculating the equation of state and response
functions for nuclear matter from microscopic inter-nucleon
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Georg Bollen
University Distinguished Professor of Physics,
FRIB Experimental Systems Division Director
Keywords: Nuclear Structure, Fundamental Symmetries, Nuclear Astrophysics,
Fragment Separator Beam Stopping
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• MS, Physics, Mainz University, 1984
• PhD, Physics, Mainz University, 1989
• Joined the laboratory in June 2000
• bollen@frib.msu.edu
Research
My research interests are related to nuclear and atomic
physics with focus on the study of basic properties of
atomic nuclei very far away from the valley of stability. A
major activity in my group is the determination of the mass
of such rare isotopes, which is their most fundamental
property. An accurate knowledge of atomic masses is
important for revealing the inner structure of exotic nuclei
and to provide crucial tests for nuclear model predictions.
Atomic masses are one of the key information required
for the description of the synthesis of the elements in the
universe. An additionalresearch interest is the development
of new techniques related to manipulation of low energy
beams.
research opportunities including interesting technical
developments aiming at reaching more exotic nuclei to
Additional research opportunities are in the related area
of beam physics at low energy.
Selected Publications
High-precision mass measurements of the isomeric and
ground states of 44 V: Improving constraints on the isobaric
multiplet mass equation parameters of the A=44, 0 +
quintet, D. Puentes, et al., Phys. Rev. C 101 (2020) 064309
High Precision Determination of the β Decay QEC Value of
C-11 and Implications on the Tests of the Standard Model,
K. Gulyuz, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 116 (2016) 012501
High-Precision Mass Measurement of
56
Cu and the
Redirection of the rp-Process Flow. A. A. Valverde, et al.,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120 (2018) 032701
Biography
Grown up in Ramstein in Germany, I first attended the
University of Kaiserslautern for undergraduate studies
and completed my graduate studies at the Johannes-
Gutenberg University in Mainz. My PhD work pioneered
high precision mass measurements of radioactive isotopes
using ion trapping techniques at the ISOLDE Facility at
CERN. I worked for more than 8 years at CERN, including
4 years as ISOLDE Physics group leader. I came to MSU as
full professor in 2000.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
The LEBIT ion trap: Shown are the gold-plated highprecision
electrodes that provide the electric fields
needed for capturing and storing rare isotope ions in the
9.4 T field of the LEBIT Penning trap mass spectrometer.
Students of the LEBIT research team led by Dr. Ryan
Ringle and me will be in the unique position to perform
research at the interface of atomic and nuclear physics.
Not relying only on the availability of radioactive beam
LEBIT provides year-round hands-on training and
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Alex Brown
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Configuration Interaction Theory, Energy Density Functional
Theory, Applications to Nuclear Structure and Astrophysics, Applications to
Fundamental Interactions.
Theoretical Nuclear Physics
About
• BA, Physics, Ohio State University, 1970
• MS, Physics, SUNY Stony Brook, 1972
• PhD, Physics, SUNY Stony Brook, 1974
• Joined the laboratory in January 1982
• brown@frib.msu.edu
Research
My research in theoretical nuclear physics is motivated
by broad questions in science: What are the fundamental
particles of matter? What are the fundamental forces and
their symmetries that govern their interactions? How were
the elements formed during the evolution of the Universe?
How do the simplicities observed in many-body systems
emerge from their underlying microscopic properties?
I pursue the development of new analytical and
computational tools for the description of nuclear
structure, especially for nuclei far from stability. The basic
theoretical tools include the configuration-interaction
and energy-density functional methods. I work with
collaborators to developed software for desktop
computing as well for high- performance computing.
Specific topics of interest include: the structure of light
nuclei and nuclei near the driplines, di-proton decay,
proton and neutron densities, double beta decay, isospin
non-conservation, level densities, quantum chaos, nuclear
equations of state for neutron stars, and the rapid-proton
capture process in astrophysics.
extended my research activities which in turn have
enriched my local collaborations.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
I am excited about the new physics that will be carried
out at FRIB. The collaboration between theory and
experiment will require continued advances in the
computational techniques I have developed as well the
new ideas about how they can be applied. Students
will learn the subtle connections between theory and
experiment, learn the techniques of nuclear many-body
quantum theory, and predict the possible outcomes of
new experiments.
Selected Publications
Microscopic calculations of nuclear level densities with
the Lanczos method, W. E. Ormand, and B. A. Brown,
Phys. Rev. C 102, 014315 (2020),
New Isospin-Breaking USD Hamiltonians for the sd-shell,
A. Magilligan and B. A. Brown, Phys. Rev. C 101, 064303
(2020),
Implications of the 36 Ca- 36 S and 38Ca-38Ar difference
in mirror charge radii on the neutron matter equation of
state, B. A. Brown, et al., Phys. Rev. Research 2, 0223035(R)
(2020).
Biography
I was born in Ohio and attended Ohio State University as
an undergraduate. I attended the University of New York
at Stony Brook for my PhD. I have collaborated on over
800 papers including over 100 in Physical Review Letters.
My collaborations include over 2,000 researchers. I visited
GSI and the University of Tuebingen for my Humboldt
Research Award. I also spent parts of my sabbaticals at
the University of Stellenbosch, the University of Oxford,
the University of Surrey, the University of Oslo, the
University of Auckland, the Australian National University,
and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. All of these
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Edward Brown
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Equation of State, Neutron Stars Dense Matter, Stellar Modeling
Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics
About
• BS, Physics, The Ohio State University, 1993
• MS, Physics, University of California, Berkeley, 1996
• PhD, Physics, University of California, Berkeley, 1999
• Joined the laboratory in February 2004
• browne@frib.msu.edu
Research
Formed in the violent death of a massive star, neutron
stars are the most dense objects in nature. Their cores
may reach several times the density of an atomic nucleus.
As a result, neutron stars are a natural laboratory to
study dense matter in bulk. We have observed neutron
stars with telescopes, captured neutrinos from the birth
of a neutron star, and detected gravitational waves from
a neutron star merger. These observations complement
laboratory studies of matter at super-nuclear density.
My work connects observations of neutron stars with
theoretical and laboratory studies of dense matter. Many
neutron stars reside in binaries accrete gas from a binary,
solar-like companion. The weight of this accumulated
matter compresses the outer layer, or crust, of the neutron
star and induces nuclear reactions. These reactions power
phenomena over timescales from seconds to years.
By modeling these phenomena and comparing with
observatons, we can infer properties of dense matter in
the neutron star’s crust and core.
Recently, we have set a lower bound on the heat capacity
of one neutron star and inferred the efficiency of neutrino
emission from the core of another. We have also calculated,
using realistic nuclear physics input, reactions in the crust
of accreting neutron stars. These calculations quantified
the heating of the neutron star from these reactions, and
the results have been used in simulations of the “freezing”
of ions into a lattice in the neutron star crust. A surprise
from these simulations is that the “ashes” of these bursts
chemically separate as they are compressed to high
densities. This may explain the inferred high thermal
conductivity of the neutron star’s crust.
Selected Publications
Rapid Neutrino Cooling in the Neutron Star MXB 1659-29,
E. F. Brown, A. Cumming, F. J. Fattoyev, C. J. Horowitz, D.
Page, and S. Reddy, Physical Review Letters, 120, 182701
(2018).
Lower limit on the heat capacity of the neutron star core,
A. Cumming, E. F. Brown, F. J. Fattoyev, C. J. Horowitz, D.
Page, and S. Reddy, Physical Review C, 95, 025806 (2017)
A Strong Shallow Heat Source In the Accreting Neutron
Star MAXI J0556-332, A. Deibel, A. Cumming, E.F. Brown,
and D. Page, Astrophys. Jour. Lett., 809, L31 (2015).
Cutaway of the neutron star in MAXI J0556-332. During
accretion, the outermost kilometer of the neutron star—
its crust—is heated by compression-induced reactions
(inset plot, which shows the temperature within the crust
over a span of 500 days). When accretion halts (at time
0 in the plot), the crust cools. By monitoring the surface
temperature during cooling, Deibel et al. determined
that a strong heat source must be located at a relatively
shallow depth of approximately 200 meters.
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Kyle Brown
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Keywords: Nuclear Reactions, Nuclear Structure, Neutron Stars, Equation of
State
Nuclear Chemistry
About
• BS, Chemistry, Indiana University, 2012
• PhD, Nuclear Chemistry, Washington University in St.
Louis, 2016
• Joined the laboratory in 2016
• brownk@frib.msu.edu
Research
Students in my group will use nuclear reactions to probe
how nuclear matter assembles in systems ranging from
nuclei to neutron stars. This work is split between two
main concentrations: utilizing reactions to determine the
nuclear equation of state and to probe the origin of the
elements.
After the groundbreaking measurement of a neutronstar
merger two years ago, there has been a renewed
interest in pinpointing the nuclear equation of state for
matter about twice as dense as found in the middle of
heavy nuclei. In particular, we seek to understand the
density and momentum dependence of the symmetry
energy. This is a repulsive term in the binding energy
that arises from an imbalance in the numbers of protons
and neutrons. Using heavy-ion collisions, my group can
create these very dense environments in the laboratory,
and by studying the particles that are ejected from the
collision we can help determine the symmetry energy.
the identity of the charged particle. These detectors are
often paired with neutron detectors, gamma detectors,
and/or the S800 spectrometer.
Students in my group will take leading roles in the setup,
execution, and analysis of these experiments. This can
include design and testing of new detector systems,
computer simulations of the experiment, or theoretical
modeling depending on the interests of the student.
Future experiments include using nuclear structure
inputs to constrain the neutron skin in heavy nuclei,
transfer reactions to study the origin of the elements,
and measuring transverse and elliptical flow observables
from heavy-ion collisions.
Selected Publications
First observation of unbound 11 O, the mirror of the halo
nucleus 11 Li. T.B. Webb et al. PRL 112, 122501 (2019).
Large longitudinal spin alignment generated in inelastic
nuclear reactions. D.E.M. Hoff et al. PRC 97, 054605
(2018).
Observation of long-range three-body Coulomb effects
in the decay of 16 Ne. K.W. Brown et al. PRL 113, 232501
(2014).
My second research focus is on probing the origin of the
elements. All elements heavier than iron are made via
proton or neutron capture reactions in explosive stellar
environments, for example neutron-star mergers or x-ray
bursts. Many of these reactions have extremely low cross
sections and cannot be measured directly. Students in
my group will use transfer reactions to measure the
nuclear structure of these rare isotopes, to indirectly
constrain their nucleon capture cross sections.
These experiments are typically performed using small
arrays of silicon and cesium-iodide detectors. Quite often
we will use the High-Resolution Array (HiRA), which is a
modular array of telescopes made of a combination of
one to two silicon detectors followed by four cesiumiodide
detectors arranged in quadrants behind them.
These telescopes provide excellent energy and angular
resolution, and the combination of detectors determines
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Kaitlin Cook
Assistant Professor of Physics
Keywords: Near-Barrier Nuclear Reaction Dynamics, Weakly-Bound Nuclei,
Fusion, Fission, Charged Particle Detectors.
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• BSc (Advanced) (Honours), Physics and Astronomy
& Astrophysics, The Australian National University,
2012
• PhD, Nuclear Physics, The Australian National
University, 2017
• Joined the laboratory in 2020
• cookk@frib.msu.edu
Research
My group studies reactions at energies near the fusion
barrier, where the structure of colliding nuclei have
profound influence on reaction outcomes. We have two
areas of focus. Firstly, we aim to understand nuclear
reactions of exotic nuclei that are “weakly-bound”, having
low thresholds to removing some number of protons and
neutrons. Some of these nuclei even have “halos” of nuclei
around a central core. Their reaction outcomes are very
different compared to those of regular nuclei. As more
exotic weakly-bound isotopes become accessible at FRIB,
it is becoming critical to understand the role of weakbinding
and associated cluster structures in reactions.
In addition, we study processes that prevent superheavy
element production. The evaporation residue crosssections
in reactions forming the heaviest superheavy
elements are extremely small. This is primarily because
of separation of nuclei before they can fully equilibrate
(quasifission). In quasifission, small changes in nuclear
properties of the colliding nuclei have a huge effect on the
time-scale and probability of quasifission. It is therefore
crucial to understand the effect of the nuclear structure
of colliding nuclei on quasifission outcomes.
In both cases, we learn a lot about reactions by performing
clever experiments that measure the energy and angular
correlations of charged particles. In doing so we infer a lot
of information about when, where, and how breakup occurs.
Biography
I’m originally from Perth in Western Australia, and I
completed my undergraduate degree, PhD, and first
postdoc in the Nuclear Reactions group at the Australian
National University in Australia’s capital city, Canberra.
There, I became interested in nuclear reactions that occur
at energies near the fusion barrier. At these energies, the
outcomes of nuclear reactions are extremely sensitive
probes of the interplay between nuclear structure and
reaction dynamics. This interplay can enhance fusion
cross-sections by a factor of ~100!
After my time at the ANU, I was a JSPS fellow at Tokyo
Institute of Technology in Japan, where I studied the
structure of exotic nuclei that have very extended
matter distributions – “halo nucle”. Now at FRIB, I like to
combine my interests and study the influence of exotic
nuclear structures on reaction outcomes at near-barrier
energies. Designing experiments that help us understand
the huge variety of phenomena that occur is a significant
intellectual challenge. Our knowledge of nuclear reactions
has important consequences on understanding the origins
of the elements, choosing the right reaction for making
the next superheavy elements, and in uses of nuclear
reactions for society.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
PhD projects are available in studying reactions with
weakly bound nuclei and in studying the processes that
prevent superheavy element creation. Students in the
group contribute to the development of new detector
systems and analysis methods to measure breakup,
fusion, and fission with beams from ReA6 provided by
FRIB. Complementing the discovery physics performed
at FRIB, students will also run and analyze precision
stable beam experiments held at the Australian National
University, as well as collaborate with reaction theorists.
The larger “palette” of nuclei that will be available with
FRIB means that we are entering an exciting new era for
near-barrier reaction studies. The main tool for these
studies are large-acceptance position-sensitive chargedparticle
detectors, which allow us to measure energy
and angular correlations of charged particles produced
in nuclear reactions.
Selected Publications
Origins of Incomplete Fusion Products and the
Suppression of Complete Fusion in Reactions of 7Li K.J.
Cook, E.C. Simpson et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 122 102501 (2019)
Interplay of charge clustering and weak binding in
reactions of 8Li. K.J. Cook, I.P. Carter et al. Phys. Rev. C. 97
021601(R) (2018)
Zeptosecond contact times for element Z=120 synthesis,
H.M. Albers et al. Physics Letters B. 808 135626 (2020)
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Sean Couch
Associate Professor of Physics
Keywords: Nuclear Astrophysics, Theory Computation, Neutron Star Mergers,
Supernovae
Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics
About
• MA, Astrophysics, The University of Texas at Austin,
2008
• PhD, Astrophysics, The University of Texas at Austin,
2010
• Joined the laboratory in June 2015
• couch@frib.msu.edu
Research
My research centers around unraveling the mystery of
how massive stars explode at the end of their lives. Such
core-collapse supernova explosions are responsible for
the production of most of the elements beyond hydrogen
and helium throughout the Universe and play a crucial
role in providing feedback mechanisms to galaxy and
star formation. While supernovae are observed routinely
to occur in galaxies near and far, the physical mechanism
that drives these energetic explosions remains unclear.
My study of the core-collapse supernova mechanism uses
cutting-edge computational methods executed on the
world’s largest supercomputers.
The most promising candidate for the supernova
explosion mechanism is the so-called “delayed neutrino
heating” mechanism. Neutrinos carry away nearly all of
the gravitational binding energy released via the collapse
of the stellar core, about 100 times the energy necessary
to drive robust supernova explosions. The trouble is
that neutrinos have an incredibly tiny cross section for
interaction, making extracting much of this copious
energy extremely difficult. The most sophisticated 1D
simulations have, for decades, shown that the neutrino
mechanism fails in spherical symmetry. The situation
is somewhat more promising in 2D and 3D wherein a
handful of self-consistent explosions have been obtained,
but these explosions tend to be marginal.
Another aspect of my research is understanding how
convection in the cores of supernova progenitor stars
can influence the explosion mechanism. How strong such
convection is in real massive stars was uncertain since
the state-of-the-art in supernova progenitor calculations
is still 1D models. My collaborators and I made the first
steps forward in addressing these issues by carrying out
the world’s first 3D supernova progenitor simulation,
directly calculating the final three minutes in the life of
a massive star all the way to the point of gravitational
core collapse. We showed that the resulting strongly
aspherical progenitor structure was more favorable for
successful CCSN explosion than an otherwise identical 1D
progenitor.
Together with my collaborators around the country, I am
leading a cutting-edge effort to produce the world’s first
and most realistic 3D supernova progenitor models. This
work involves the combination of best-in-class opensource
stellar evolution modeling codes with a 3D nuclear
combustion hydrodynamics code, and the world’s fastest
supercomputers.
Selected Publications
S.M. Couch, E. Chatzopoulos, W.D. Arnett, F.X. Timmes,
“The Three- dimensional Evolution to Core Collapse of
a Massive Star,” Astrophysical Journal Letters, 808, L21
(2015)
S.M. Couch, C.D. Ott, “The Role of Turbulence in
Neutrino-driven Core- collapse Supernova Explosions,”
Astrophysical Journal, 799, 5 (2015)
S.M. Couch, E.P. O’Connor, “High- resolution, Threedimensional
Simulations of Core-collapse Supernovae
in Multiple Progenitors,” Astrophysical Journal, 785, 123
(2014)
Much of my recent work has focused on the role of
turbulence in the supernova mechanism. Turbulence
behind the stalled supernova shock, driven by the neutrino
heating, is extremely strong and violent. This turbulence
exerts an effective pressure on the stalled shock that can
revival the background thermal pressure. This is a huge
effect that is completely missing from 1D calculations! My
collaborators and I showed that 2D and 3D calculations
require much less neutrino heating to reach explosions
precisely because of this turbulent pressure helping
to push the shock out. I am currently investigating the
requirements for accurately modeling turbulence in the
simulations of the supernova mechanism.
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Pawel Danielewicz
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Reaction Theory, Heavy-Ion Collisions, Many-Body Theory, Transport
Theory, Equation of State
Theoretical Nuclear Physics
About
• MS, Physics, Warsaw University, 1977
• PhD, Physics, Warsaw University, 1981
• Joined the laboratory in September 1988
• danielewicz@frib.msu.edu
Research
My research is in nuclear reaction theory. Primarily I am
interested in the central energetic reactions of heavy nuclei.
These reactions test bulk nuclear properties such as the
Equation of State (EoS) of nuclear matter. Particular focus
is now on determining the dependence of nuclear pressure
on temperature and the symmetry energy that describes
changes in the matter with changes in neutron-proton
imbalance. Insights into the symmetry energy would allow
to extrapolate from large nuclei explored in the laboratory,
with low neutron-over-proton excess, to neutron stars, with
large excess. I am interested in the many-body theory tied
to the central reactions, such as the semiclassical transport
theory and the quantum nonequilibrium Green’s function
theory. I use the theory to understand what happens in the
reactions and to learn about the bulk nuclear properties,
by analyzing reaction measurements. When more
information can be gained from data in an adjacent field or
any methods are not there for my use, I often dive into the
adjacent fields and tackle challenges there, to move the
overall efforts forward.
Current research projects I am engaged in include the
use of the so-called charge-exchange reactions to learn
about the symmetry energy at the densities characteristic
for nuclei, the use of the charged pion yields from central
reactions to learn about the symmetry energy at higher
densities than in the nuclei, and the use of central reactions
to create transient rings out of nuclear matter. Moreover,
I am engaged in the development of quantum transport
theory suitable for studying collisions of heavy nuclei
and of other systems. Charge exchange reactions, where
proton incident on a nucleus turns into a neutron, probe
the relative distributions of neutrons vs protons in a
nucleus. The latter distribution is largely governed by the
symmetry energy. The rings out of nuclear matter form in
the transport theory simulations of collisions at modest
incident energy, in effect of a low-density instability in
the nuclear EoS, while the matter expands, mimicking the
formation of smoke rings. Experimental observation of
such rings would validate the current understanding of the
low-density EoS and give insight into phenomena in the
crusts of neutron stars.
Possible incoming student projects, of different difficulty,
include:
• Exploring impacts of a medium-modification of pion
production and absorption rates on pion yields from
central collisions of heavy nuclei
• Generalizing error analysis to produce faithful errors
on the conclusions drawn from charge-exchange and
elastic scttering reactions. The traditional analysis
falters due to a serious difference in the accuracy of
measuring charged protons and neutral neutrons
• Constructing and implementing modern energy
functional for exploring EoS in central reactions
• Advancing quantum transport theory for central
reactions, based on nonequilibrium Green’s functions
Selected Publications
Dynamics of one-dimensional correlated nuclear systems
within non-equilibrium Green’s function theory, Hao Lin,
Hossein Mahzoon, Arnau Rios and Pawel Danielewicz,
Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 420, 168272 (2020)
Shear viscosity from nuclear stopping, Brent Barker and
Pawel Danielewicz, Phys. Rev. C 99, 034607 (2019)
Symmetry Energy III: Isovector Skins, Pawel Danielewicz,
Pardeep Singh and Jenny Lee, Nucl. Phys. A 958, 147
(2017)
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Alexandra Gade
Professor of Physics, FRIB Deputy Scientific Director
Keywords: Gamma-Ray Detection, Direct Reactions, Shell Structure, Dripline
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• MS, Nuclear Physics, University of Koeln, 1998
• PhD, Physics, University of Cologne, 2002
• Joined the laboratory in April 2002
• gade@frib.msu.edu
Research
The focus of my research is the structure of atomic nuclei
in the regime of very unbalanced proton and neutron
numbers. Short-lived radioactive nuclei that contain
many more neutrons than protons often reveal surprising
properties: Their shape and excitation pattern as well as
the energy and occupation of their quantum mechanical
orbits by protons and neutrons is significantly altered
as compared to stable nuclei. My group uses nuclear
reactions to probe such changes in the nuclear structure.
Since our nuclei of interest are short-lived and cannot be
made into targets, the beam is made up of them. We have
at hand an arsenal of different reactions to probe specific
nuclear properties. These include scattering as well as
reactions that remove or add a nucleon. The experimental
challenge now is two-fold: We have to identify all reaction
residues (particle spectroscopy) and identify the final
state they were left in (gamma-ray spectroscopy).
Biography
I grew up in Germany being very fond of chemistry,
mathematics, and physics and ended up studying physics
at the Universität zu Köln where I got my PhD-equivalent
with experimental nuclear science research at the local
tandem accelerator laboratory. I enjoyed coming up with
stable target-projectile combinations that produced my
nucleus of interest at the desired excitation energy and
angular momentum either directly in a nuclear reaction
or subsequently in a nuclear decay. My group’s work
today builds on this, only that FRIB allows us to probe
the most exotic and interesting nuclei possible as we
can use rare-isotope beams to induce nuclear reactions.
We use gamma-ray spectroscopy to characterize the
excited states of the short-lived reaction products, and
the resulting spectra provide fantastic fingerprints of the
quantum mechanical inner workings of nuclei that we can
only study at FRIB.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
The results from our experiments are often surprising and
reveal exciting changes in the structure of exotic nuclei as
compared to stable species. We collaborate closely with
nuclear structure and reaction theorists. Our experimental
input helps to unravel the driving forces behind the often
spectacular modifications in nuclear structure and adds
to the improvement of nuclear models that are aimed to
compute nuclear properties with predictive power also in
the exotic regime. Projects in my group involve the analysis
of new and exciting data, large-scale detector simulations,
hands-on detector upgrades, or a combination of the above.
Gamma-ray spectrum of 60 Ti, as detected in the
laboratory (lower panel) and after software correction
of the data for the Doppler shift inherent to a moving
emitter (upper panel). The spectrum revealed for the first
time an excited state in 60 Ti at 850 keV excitation energy.
Selected Publications
Is the Structure of 42 Si Understood?, A. Gade et al, Phys. Rev.
Lett. 122, 222501 (2019).
Commissioning of the LaBr 3
(Ce) detector array at the
National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, B.
Longfellow et al., Nuclear Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A
916, 141 (2019).
Localizing the Shape Transition in Neutron-Deficient
Selenium, J. Henderson et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 082502
(2018).
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Venkatarao Ganni
Director of the MSU Cryogenic Initiative, Professor
of Accelerator Engineering, Adjunct Professor of
Mechanical Engineering
Keywords: Cryogenic Engineering, Cryogenic Process Systems Helium
Refrigeration
Accelerator Engineering
About
• MS, Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Sciences,
University of Wisconsin at Madison, 1976
• PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Sciences,
Oklahoma State University at Stillwater, 1979
• Joined the laboratory in August 2016
• ganni@frib.msu.edu
Research
The development of practical and new cryogenic
systems and components needed for the efficient and
reliable operation of superconducting accelerators is my
primary interest. These are complex, energy-intensive
thermodynamic process systems, which require many
well-matched and efficient sub-systems. Their design
requires a multi-disciplinary approach and iterative
optimization process. The components used for these
systems are often adopted from commercial refrigeration,
or other such industries. Consequently, they are often
not well-matched, and there is considerable opportunity
to improve their efficiency and reliability. This requires
a process-system and component-level approach.
Investigation requires thermodynamics, heat transfer,
fluid mechanics, process control, and electrical power.
The equipment involved includes fixed displacement
compressors, turbomachinery, heat exchangers,
adsorption beds, vacuum systems, and various types
of instrumentation. My work has encompassed theory,
research and development, and the implementation of
these on systems used in industry and in government labs.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
Although we develop and investigate the theory governing
what drives the efficient, reliable, and flexible operation
of these systems, our goal is to develop actual hardware
designs and test them on real systems. This is a unique
opportunity available here in the cryogenics department
at FRIB, providing students exposure to not only the
theory and fundamental research, but also the design,
fabrication, and testing of these cryogenic systems.
Selected Publications
V. Ganni, P. Knudsen, “Optimal Design and Operation of
Helium Refrigeration Systems Using the Ganni Cycle,”
Advances in Cryogenic Engineering 55, American Institute of
Physics, New York (2010), 1057-1071.
V. Ganni, et al, “Compressor System for the 12 GeV Upgrade at
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility”, Proceedings
of the 23rd International Cryogenic Engineering Conference,
Wroclaw, Poland, July 19-23, 2010, 859-863.
V. Ganni, et al, “Application of JLab 12 GeV Helium
Refrigeration System for the FRIB Accelerator at MSU,”
Advances in Cryogenic Engineering 59, American Institute of
Physics, New York (2014).
Biography
Four decades of experience in industry and at DOE
accelerator laboratories, as well as building, commissioning,
and operation of helium refrigeration systems for DOE
laboratory particle accelerators, increased my curiosity
for a deeper understanding of the thermodynamic
principles in order to improve their efficiency, reliability,
and operational flexibility. This all began with a curiosity
to understand the theory behind the fundamentals for
improving refrigeration systems efficiency to reduce the
input power, reliability, and operational simplicity.
The figure shows the performance of large 4.5 kelvin
helium cryogenic refrigerators over a wide capacity range
and load type, which use the Ganni-Floating Pressure.
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Paul Gueye
Associate Professor of Physics
Keywords: Neutron Dripline, Nuclear Structure, MoNA-LISA Weakly-Bound
Nuclear Systems.
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• MS, Physics, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegal,
1990
• PhD, Physics, Université Clermont-Ferrand II, France,
1994
• Joined the laboratory in September 2018
• gueye@frib.msu.edu
Research
The nucleus of the simplest atom (hydrogen) is composed
of a single proton. With the addition of one neutron, a
heavier hydrogen (deuteron) atom can be formed but
this is also when nucleon-nucleon interactions start to
occur inside nuclei. How does nature went from hydrogen
to heavier elements? What happens when many more
nucleons are packed into a small pace? Are any of these
exotic nuclei better for imaging or therapy applications?
These and many more questions are vital to our
understanding of the universe and contribution to society.
My research is in experimental nuclear physics with a
focus on neutron-rich isotopes along the neutron dripline.
I am a member of the MoNA Collaboration that studies
these unique systems using the MoNA-LISA modular
neutron detector and a 4 Tm large gap superconducting
sweeper magnet. The Collaboration recently built a Si-
CsI telescope to enable a complementary sweeperless
experimental scientific program.
Biography
Prof. Paul Guèye received his BS and MS in Physics
and Chemistry from the University Cheikh Anta Diop
(Senegal). He obtained his Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics
from the University of Clermont-Ferrand II (France)
on electron/positron scattering off carbon and lead.
He was then a postdoc with the nuclear physics group
of Hampton University on the first the strange quark
experiment at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator
Facility (Virginia). He joined the MoNA Collaboration in
2013 to study rare isotopes at the Facility for Rare Isotope
Beams/National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory
(Michigan). He chaired the HU Physics Department in
2015-2018 and joined MSU in the Fall 2018. Scientific
discoveries require a diverse pool of students, each with
their unique talents and abilities. My group is reflective of
my passion to provide exciting opportunities for students
from multi-disciplinary background interested in gaining
some knowledge and contributing to basic and applied
nuclear physics fields.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
I am utilizing my expertise from high energy electron
scattering to enhance our existing research thrusts through
the development of a highly segmented gas electron
multiplier-based active target that will house several
thin (250-500 mm) targets, a next generation neutron
detector to provide unprecedented position (100s mm)
and timing (tens of ps) resolution, a GEANT4 Monte Carlo
simulation general framework for FRIB, and a polarized
target to enable spin dependent observables for rare
isotope research. I am also developing a compact polarized
electron/positron linac for lepton scattering experiments
off rare isotopes.
Selected Publications
D. Votaw et al., Shell inversion in the unbound N = 7
isotones, Phys. Rev., C102, 014325 (2020)
T. Redpath et al., New Segmented Target for Studies of
Neutron Unbound Systems, Nucl. Inst. Meth. Phys. Res.,
A977, 164284 (2020)
P. Guèye et al., Dispersive Corrections to the Born
Approximation in Elastic Electron-Nucleus Scattering in
the Intermediate Energy Regime, Eur. Phys. Jour. A56:126
(2020)
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Yue Hao
Associate Professor of Physics
Keywords: Theoretical Accelerator Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics High-
Performance Computing
Accelerator Physics
About
• BSc, Physics, University of Science and Technology
of China, 2003
• MS, Physics, Indiana University, 2005
• PhD, Physics, Indiana University, 2008
• Joined the laboratory in 2016
• haoy@frib.msu.edu
Research
A particle accelerator is designed to accelerate basic
charged particles, such as electrons, protons, and ions,
to higher energy. It boosts new particle and nuclear
science by creating new particles or probing its inner
structures; enables precise measurements for decoding
the secret of life or creating new materials and medicines;
and provides designed beams for medical diagnostic and
cancer treatments. The goal of accelerator science is to
provide better beam characteristics with more affordable
cost and a smaller footprint.
Biography
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
My research group focuses on in-depth understandings of
accelerator physics. Our goal is to find elegant approaches
to achieve a high-intensity and high-quality beam of charged
particles in an accelerator. The students are welcome to do
research on the nonlinear beam dynamics, beam-beam
interaction, collective effects, numerical methods with highperformance
computing hardware, and the data-driven
methods in accelerator design and control.
Selected Publications
‘Electron-Ion Collider: The next QCD frontier’, The
European Physical Journal A, 52, 9 (2016)
Y.Hao, et.al. ‘Beam-beam Effects of ‘Gear-changing’ in
Ring-Ring Colliders’, PRAB. 17, 041001 (2014).
Y. Hao, et.al. ‘Study and Mitigation of the Kink Instability
in the ERL-based Electron Ion Collider’, PRAB, 16, 101001
(2013)
Y. Hao and V. Ptitsyn, ‘Effect of Electron Disruption in the
ERL based eRHIC’, PRAB, 13, 071003 (2010)
Switching from the theoretical physics of complex system,
I started my career in accelerator physics as a graduate
student of Indiana university. My graduate thesis work
and post-graduate research are all tightly relate to the
design and beam dynamics of electron-ion collider, which
will become reality in just few years. I am interested
in using mathematical, computational, or data-driven
models to precisely predict the charge particles’ behavior
in an accelerator.
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Heiko Hergert
Associate Professor of Physics
Keywords: Nuclear Structure, Many-Body Theory, Computational Physics,
Machine Learning, Fundamental Symmetries.
Theoretical Nuclear Physics
About
• PhD, Physics, TU Darmstadt, Germany, 2008
• Joined the laboratory in 2014
• hergert@frib.msu.edu
Research
Atomic nuclei are among nature’s most fascinating, and
at the same time, most confounding objects. They exhibit
a rich variety of quantum phenomena, especially if their
proton and neutron numbers are heavily unbalanced.
Through numerical simulations of nuclei, and their
confrontation with the wealth of new experimental data
that FRIB will produce, my group seeks to deepen our
understanding of nuclear interactions and the quantum
mechanics of strongly correlated many-body systems.
This will help us to answer scientific questions ranging
from the validation of nature’s fundamental symmetries
at the smallest scales to the life and death of stars and the
origin of elements in the cosmos. On a very practical level,
simulations of the structure, dynamics, and chemistry of
the nuclei that FRIB is capable of producing will provide
important guidance for fundamental experiments, as well
as the harvesting of isotopes for use in medicine or other
societal applications.
Biography
I grew up on a farm in a small town in the German state of
Hesse, but my interest in science led me to pursue a career
in research. In 2008, I received my doctoral degree from the
Technical University in Darmstadt, Germany, specializing
in nuclear many-body theory. After postdoctoral stays at
MSU’s National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory
(the predecessor of FRIB) and The Ohio State University,
I returned to Lansing as an FRIB Theory Fellow in 2014,
and joined the faculty in the following year. In addition
to computational nuclear physics, I also have research
interests and collaborations in general topics of scientific
computing, like machine learning or quantum computing.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
My group’s work focuses on the development of novel
techniques for tackling the nuclear many-body problem,
and their implementation on computers ranging from small
workstations to massively parallel supercomputers. Students
will receive training in state-of-the-art methods of quantum
many-body theory and high-performance computing.
Our projects typically focus on the development of new
extensions to our methods and their application, often in
close collaboration with experimental researchers at FRIB
and other facilities. This offers prospective students a broad
perspective of the field, and a chance to be immersed in
community efforts like the FRIB Theory Alliance or the
NUCLEI SciDAC project.
Selected Publications
Ab Initio Treatment of Collective Correlations and the
Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay of 48Ca, J. M. Yao, B.
Bally, J. Engel, R. Wirth, T. R. Rodriguez and H. Hergert,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 232501 (2020)
Non-Empirical Interactions for the Nuclear Shell Model:
An Update, S. R. Stroberg, H. Hergert, S. K. Bogner, and J.
D. Holt, Ann. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 69, 307 (2019)
In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group Approach to
the Nuclear Many-Body Problem, in “An Advanced Course
in Computational Nuclear Physics’’ (eds.~M. Hjorth-
Jensen, M. P. Lombardo, U. van Kolck), Springer Lecture
Notes in Physics 936 (2017)
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Morten Hjorth-Jensen
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Nuclear Many-Body Theory, Computational Physics Machine
Learning and Quantum Computing
Theoretical Nuclear Physics
About
• MS, Science, Norwegian University of Science and
Technology 1988
• PhD, Theoretical Nuclear Physics, University of Oslo
1993
• Joined the laboratory in January 2012
• hjensen@frib.msu.edu
Research
I am a theoretical physicist with an interest in manybody
theory in general, and the nuclear many-body
problem and nuclear structure problems in particular.
This means that I study various methods for solving
either Schroedinger’s equation or Dirac’s equation for
many interacting particles, spanning from algorithmic
aspects to the mathematical properties of such methods.
The latter also leads to a strong interest in computational
physics as well as computational aspects of quantum
mechanical methods. A large fraction of my work, in close
collaboration with colleagues at the FRIB and worldwide,
is devoted to a better understanding of various quantum
mechanical algorithms. This activity leads to strong
overlaps with other scientific fields. Although the main
focus has been and is on many-body methods for nuclear
structure problems, I have also done, and continue to do,
research on solid state physics systems in addition to
studies of the mathematical properties of various manybody
methods. The latter includes also algorithms from
Quantum Information Theories and their applicability to
for example nuclear physics problems. Studies of Machine
Learning algorithms applied to the nuclear many-body
problem as well as tools to analyze experimental data
from FRIB, are also topics I work on.
To understand why matter is stable, and thereby shed
light on the limits of nuclear stability, is one of the
overarching aims and intellectual challenges of basic
research in nuclear physics and science. To relate the
stability of matter to the underlying fundamental forces
and particles of nature as manifested in nuclear matter is
central to present and planned rare isotope facilities.
Examples of important properties of nuclear systems that
can reveal information about these topics are masses (and
thereby binding energies) and density distributions of nuclei.
These are quantities that convey important information
on the shell structure of nuclei with their pertinent magic
numbers and shell closures, or the eventual disappearance
of the latter away from the valley of stability. My research
projects, in strong collaboration with other theorists and
experimentalists at FRIB, aim at understanding some of
the above topics. These projects span from computational
quantum mechanics with various many-body methods, via
studies of quantum information theories and their relevance
to studies of nuclear many-body systems to machinelearning
applied to the same problems as well as ways to
interpret data from nuclear physics experiments.
Topics discussed here for possible thesis projects aim at
giving you knowledge and insights about the physics of
nuclear systems as well as an in depth understanding of
many-body methods. This includes also developing your
competences and skills on highly relevant computational
methods, from central numerical algorithms to highperformance
computing methods. The following list
reflects some of our research possibilities:
• Computational quantum mechanics, computational
physics, and many-body methods applied to
studies of nuclear systems, with strong overlaps
with experiment
• Development of time-dependent many-body
theories of relevance for fusion and fission studies
• Quantum information theories and nuclear manybody
problems
• Studies of dense nuclear matter and neutron stars
• Machine-learning algorithms applied to nuclear
many-body methods
• Machine-learning algorithms applied to the
analysis of nuclear physics experiments
Theoretical nuclear physics is a highly interdisciplinary
field, with well-developed links to numerical mathematics,
computational physics, high-performance computing,
and computational science and data science, including
modern topics like quantum information theories,
statistical data analysis, and machine-learning. The skills
and competences you acquire through your studies
give you an education that prepares you for solving and
studying the scientific problems of the 21 st century.
Selected Publications
Morten Hjorth-Jensen, M.P. Lombardo and U. van Kolck,
Lecture Notes in Physics, Editors M. Hjorth-Jensen, M.P.
Lombardo and U. van Kolck, Volume 936, (2017).
Morten Hjorth-Jensen, Computational Physics, an
Introduction, IoP, Bristol, UK, 2019
Fei Yuan, Sam Novario, Nathan Parzuchowski, Sarah
Reimann, Scott K. Bogner and Morten Hjorth-Jensen., First
principle calculations of quantum dot systems, Journal of
Chemical Physics, 147,164109 (2017).
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Hironori Iwasaki
Professor of Physics
Keyword: Nuclear Structure, Nuclear Spectroscopy, TRIPLEX, Weakly-bound
nuclear systems, GRETINA
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• MS, Physics, University of Tokyo, 1998
• PhD, Physics, University of Tokyo, 2001
• Joined the laboratory in September 2009
• iwasaki@frib.msu.edu
Research
My research focuses on the investigation of the structure
and dynamics of rare isotopes which have unusual protonto-neutron
ratios compared to stable nuclei that exist
in nature. These exotic nuclei, which can be produced
at Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), often exhibit
surprising phenomena such as nuclear halo characterized
by valence neutrons with spatially extended wave
functions and shape coexistence with competing nuclear
shapes manifested in a single nuclear level. We provide
precise and accurate nuclear data from lifetime and
spectroscopy experiments and, through comparisons to
advanced theory, we try to understand the forces that
bind nucleons into nuclei, test the symmetry in atomic
nuclei, answer questions concerning the astrophysical
origin of nuclear matter, and address societal needs
related to nuclear science. In our experiments, we utilize
the combination of the state-of-the-art equipment,
including GRETINA, TRIPLEX, and S800 spectrograph,
to achieve model-independent measurements of excitedstate
lifetimes.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
In my research group, graduate students 1) develop new
experimental setup and techniques in spectroscopy and
lifetime measurements using relativistic or reaccelerated
rare isotopes beams and 2) analyze data and interpret
physics results from experiments. Students also work on
hands-on projects to operate and improve the TRIPLEX
device which is used for lifetime measurements based on
Doppler-shift techniques. New detector projects developing
radiation-hard diamond detectors and associated data
acquisition system are underway. Depending on interest,
students also participate in summer projects at various
national laboratories to prepare for their future careers.
Selected Publications
Intruder dominance in the second 0+ state of state of
32
Mg studied with a novel technique for in-flight decays; R.
Elder, H. Iwasaki, et al., Phys. Rev. C100, 041301(R), (2019).
Enhanced Electric Dipole Strength for the Weakly Bound
States in 27 Ne; C. Loelius, N. Kobayashi, H. Iwasaki, et al.,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 262501 (2018).
Lifetime Measurement and Triple Coexistence Band
Structure in 43 S; T. Mijatovic’, N. Kobayashi, H. Iwasaki, et
al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 012501 (2018).
Biography
Before joining in MSU in 2009, I worked at various places
in the world; University of Tokyo in Japan, IPN Orsay in
France, and University of Cologne in Germany. All these
places have accelerator-based facilities on campus,
realizing the ideal combination of academic and research
environment for scientists and students. In my research
activities, I always like to work with early-career scientists
(students and postdocs) because I can learn new ideas
and views of science by interacting with them. At MSU,
FRIB is providing world-class research and training
opportunities, and I am looking forward to working with
future scientists.
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Pete Knudsen
Senior Cryogenic Process Engineer
Keywords: Cryogenic Process Systems
Cryogenic Engineering
About
• BS, Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State
University, 1990
• MS, Mechanical Engineering, Fluid and Thermal
Sciences, Old Dominion University, 2008
• PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Fluid and Thermal
Sciences, Old Dominion University, 2016
• Joined the laboratory in Aug 2016
• knudsen@frib.msu.edu
Research
Cryogenic systems, used to cool superconducting devices
close to a temperature of absolute zero, are complex
thermal-hydraulic process systems comprised of many
sub-systems and are very energy intensive by nature,
requiring at least three orders of magnitude higher
input power for the same cooling. These systems are
highly specialized and often unique. The process cycles
are complex, the sub-systems must operate in concert,
and designs are inherently thermally and mechanically
coupled and necessitate consideration of non-constant
and non-ideal fluid behavior. The demands on the process
equipment with respect to efficiency and reliability over
the required operating temperature range are quite
different than in commercial industry. These factors
provide many opportunities for applied research and
development.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
We offer opportunities both separately and combined for
theoretical and hands-on-hardware research on thermalhydraulic
process equipment and systems. Our focus is well
rounded, beginning with concept modeling and fundamental
studies, followed by engineering design and analysis,
then oversight of fabrication and installation, and finally,
testing. Although all of these are difficult to squeeze into a
dissertation or thesis, there is the opportunity for exposure
to many of these aspects. Our goal is the development of
new and improved cryogenic processes and equipment,
which offer better efficiency, reliability, and flexibility.
Selected Publications
Equivalent isentropic expansion efficiency of real fluid
subject to concurrent pressure drop and heat transfer,
P. Knudsen, V. Ganni, IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 278
012059 (2018)
Modifications to JLab 12 GeV refrigerator and wide range
mix mode performance testing results, P. Knudsen, et al,
IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 171 012015 (2017)
Testing of a 4 K to 2 K heat exchanger with an intermediate
pressure drop, P. Knudsen, V. Ganni, IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater.
Sci. Eng. 101 012105 (2015)
Biography
My career began differently than a typical university
faculty, starting as a Space Shuttle systems engineer,
then moving on toward diverse system and equipment
designs; such as multi-million dollar launch vehicle ground
support fluid systems, the process design of large helium
cryogenic refrigeration systems, and specialized test
equipment such as a 2 kelvin helium heat exchanger. It is
this background, typical in our group, which emphasizes
both our motivation for theoretical and applied research
to practical applications.
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Dean Lee
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Nuclear Structure, Nuclear Reactions, Many-Body Theory,
Superfluidity, Quantum Computing
Theoretical Nuclear Physics
About
• PhD, Physics, Harvard University, 1998
• Joined the laboratory in August 2017
• leed@frib.msu.edu
Research
The Lee research group is focused on connecting
fundamental physics to forefront experiments. The
group studies many aspects of quantum few- and manybody
systems. Together with collaborators, the group
has developed lattice Monte Carlo methods that probe
strongly-interacting systems and study superfluidity,
nuclear clustering, phase transitions, and other emergent
phenomena from first principles. The group also
investigates many facets of the strong nuclear force, from
the underlying symmetries of quantum chromodynamics
to predictions for nuclear structure, reactions, and
thermodynamics.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
Much of the research in our group is motivated by the
prospect of discovering something new. I am happy to
work with students and postdocs who are excited by the
discovery process and eager to chase all promising ideas
to their logical conclusion.
Selected Publications
D. Frame, R. He, I. Ipsen, Da. Lee, De. Lee, E. Rrapaj,
“Eigenvector continuation with subspace learning”, Phys.
Rev. Lett. 121, 032501 (2018).
S. Elhatisari et al., “Nuclear binding near a quantum phase
transition,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, no. 13, 132501 (2016).
S. Elhatisari, D. Lee, G. Rupak, E. Epelbaum, H. Krebs, T.A.
Lähde, T. Luu and U.-G. Meißner, “Ab initio alpha-alpha
scattering,” Nature 528, 111 (2015).
The group is also engaged in novel applications of new
technologies for fundamental science. This includes
lattice Monte Carlo simulations of quantum many-body
systems using the latest supercomputing technologies.
It also includes new algorithms for quantum computing
such as the rodeo algorithm or the development of fast
machine-learning emulators based on concepts such as
eigenvector continuation.
Biography
I received my AB in physics in 1992 and PhD in theoretical
particle physics in 1998, both from Harvard University.
His PhD advisor was Howard Georgi. From 1998-2001,
I joined the University of Massachusetts Amherst for my
postdoctoral research under the supervision of John
Donoghue, Eugene Golowich, and Barry Holstein. I joined
North Carolina State University as an assistant professor
in 2001, becoming associate professor in 2007, and full
professor in 2012. In 2017, I moved to the Facility for Rare
Isotope Beams at Michigan State University as Professor
of Physics, jointly appointed in the Department of Physics
and Astronomy.
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Steven Lidia
Senior Physicist and Adjunct Professor of Physics
and Electrical and Computer Engineering
Keywords: Accelerator Systems, Beam Diagnostics High-Performance Controls,
Advanced Instrumentation, High Brightness Beams
Accelerator Physics
About
• PhD, Physics, University of California at Davis, 1999
• Joined the laboratory in August 2016
• lidia@frib.msu.edu
Research
Contemporary and planned accelerator facilities are
pushing against several development frontiers. Facilities
like the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, the European
Spallation Source, FAIR@ GSI, IFMIF, SARAF, and others
are currently expanding the limits of the intensity frontier
of proton and heavy ion beams. These high-intensity
hadron beams are intrinsically useful for nuclear science
as they permit exploration of low cross section reactions
with reasonable experimental data collection rates. These
same beams, however, also present distinct hazards
to machine operation from uncontrolled beam losses.
Optimum scientific performance of these facilities requires
us to predict and measure the behavior of intense beams.
The development of diagnostic techniques and advanced
instrumentation allows the accelerator scientist to create
and to tune beamlines that preserve beam quality measures
while allowing for precise manipulation and measurement
of the beam’s energy, intensity, trajectory, isotope content,
and phase space density and correlations. We utilize
sophisticated codes to model the dynamics of multicomponent
particle beams and their electromagnetic,
thermal, and nuclear interactions with materials and
devices. We design sensor devices and components
that enable us to make specific measurements of beam
parameters. These sensors are paired with electronic
signal acquisition, analysis, and control systems to provide
timely data that permit beam tuning and to monitor beam
behavior and beamline performance. These systems are
built and tested in the laboratory before commissioning
with beam.
Like accelerator science, in general, development
of diagnostic and control techniques involve the
understanding and utilization of diverse subject matter
from multiple physics and engineering sub-disciplines.
prediction and measurement of beam instabilities; and
development of electronics, firmware, and software to
interface with these sensors. Specific instrumentation
developments will enable non-intercepting bunch
length and profile measurements, monitors for ion beam
contaminant species and diffuse beam halo, machine
learning techniques for integrating loss monitor networks,
and compact sources of soft x-rays for nuclear structure
measurements.
Time-averaged phase space density measurements of
30 mA, 130 keV Li+ beam using scanning slit and slit
Faraday cup.
Selected Publications
P. N. Ostroumov, S. Lidia, et al, “Beam commissioning
in the first superconducting segment of the Facility for
Rare Isotope Beams”, Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 22, 080101
(2019).
P.A. Ni, F.M. Bieniosek, E. Henestroza and S.M. Lidia, “A
multi-wavelength streak-optical- pyrometer for warmdense
matter experiments at NDCX-I and NDCX-II”, Nucl.
Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 733 (2014), 12-17.
J. Coleman, S.M. Lidia, et. al., “Single-pulse and multipulse
longitudinal phase space and temperature measurements
of an intense ion beam”, Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 15,
070101 (2012).
Current projects within the group are centered on
measurements to understand the behavior of intense,
multi-charge state ion beams; high sensitivity and high
speed sensors and networks for beam loss monitoring;
accurate beam profile monitoring and tomography;
non-invasive beam profile measurement techniques;
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Sean Liddick
Associate Professor of Chemistry, Associate Director
of Experimental Science
Keywords: Gamma-ray, Beta Decay, Machine Learning Nuclear Structure,
Nucleosynthesis
Nuclear Chemistry
About
• BS, Chemistry, Texas A&M University, 2001
• PhD, Chemical Physics, Michigan State University,
2004
• Joined the laboratory in December 2009
• liddick@frib.msu.edu
Research
The ease of transitions between different states of
the atomic nucleus carry a wealth of information and
can be used in a variety of applications ranging from
describing the basic configuration of the nucleus’
constituent protons and neutrons to constraining the
synthesis of heavy elements in energetic astrophysical
events. Nuclear properties are expected to vary
significantly as a function of proton or neutron number
as departure is made from stable nuclei. My group
focuses on characterizing transition rates between
nuclear states as a function of proton and neutron
number and, from this information, inferring properties
of the nucleus such as its shape or the cross section for
neutron capture.
One focus of the group is on transitions between states
with spin and parity of 0+. These transitions proceed
are forbidden to occur through photon emission and
instead occur through the emission of an electron
leading to a characteristic signature in our detection
system. The transition rate and excitation energy
between the 0+ states can be related to the difference
in mean square charge radius of the nucleus and the
amount of mixing between the two states.
The other focus of the group lies in inferring the
photon strength functions (related to the photon
transition rates) of highly-excited states. The photon
strength function combined with a knowledge of the
number of nuclear states as a function of energy can
be used to predict reaction cross sections such as
neutron capture. Neutron capture rates are a necessary
ingredient to predict elemental abundances produced
in energy astrophysical events, such as supernovae and
neutron star mergers, which are expected to lead to
the synthesis of a significant amount of the elements
heavier than iron. Abundance predictions require
neutron capture rate uncertainties of roughly a factor
of two while current constraints can reach over two
orders of magnitude.
Radioactive nuclei are produced, isolated, and delivered
into an active detector, and their subsequent decay
radiations are monitored using charged particle and
photon detectors. Decay spectroscopy provides a
sensitive and selective means to populate and study
low-energy excited states of daughter nuclei and a
variety of different decay modes can be exploited.
All detectors are instrumented using modern digital
pulse processing systems, and the group is pursuing
advanced analysis techniques including the application
of machine learning to nuclear science data.
• Compelling science program aligned with national
priorities to develop a predictive model of the
atomic nucleus and determine how heavy elements
are made described in recent long range plans
• Ability to work with state-of-the-art instrumentation
and looking forward to the completion of the FRIB
decay station
• Development of advanced analysis techniques
including the potential to apply machine learning
• Significant engagement with the national
laboratories through the Nuclear Science and
Security Consortium
Selected Publications
Novel techniques for constraining neutron-capture rates
relevant for r-process heavy-element nucleosynthesis,
A.C. Larsen, A. Spyrou, S.N. Liddick, M. Guttormsen, Prog.
Part. Nucl, Phys, 107, 69 (2019)
Experimental neutron capture rate constraint far from
stability, S.N. Liddick, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett 116, 242502
(2016). (Editor’s Suggestion)
Shape coexistence from lifetime and branching-ratio
measurements in 68,70Ni, B.P. Crider, C.J. Prokop, S. N.
Liddick, et al., Phys. Lett. B, 763, 108 (2016)
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Steven Lund
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Beam Simulation, Accelerator Theory, Space Charge, Plasma Physics
Accelerator Physics
About
• BS, Physics Auburn University, 1987
• PhD, Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
1992
• Joined the laboratory in April 2014
• lund@frib.msu.edu
Research
Charged particle accelerators have long been the driving
engine of discovery in fundamental areas of physics such
as high-energy physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics,
as well as vital tools to probe material properties in a wide
variety of manners in applied physics via accelerator-driven
light sources, spallation neutron sources, and microscopes.
Accelerators also play a key role in applications such as
materials processing, medical diagnostics and therapies,
and potential advanced energy sources. This central
role in science and technology has driven the field for
many years, and accelerator physics itself is a vibrant
discipline of physics. Machines represent a tour de force
on the creative use of physics and technology to produce
a plethora of machines based on different concepts/
architectures generating a broad range of beams for
diverse applications. The field produces a rich range
of applied physics problems providing opportunities
for researchers and students to extend advances.
My field is theoretical accelerator physics emphasizing
analytic theory and numerical modeling. Before arriving
at MSU in 2014 to work at FRIB, I held a joint appointment
at Lawrence Livermore and Berkeley national laboratories
working on physics issues associated with the transport
of beams with high charge intensity, design of accelerator
and trap systems, large- and small-scale numerical
simulations of accelerators, support of laboratory
experiments, and design of electric and magnetic
elements to focus and bend beams. A common theme
in my research is to identify, understand, and control
processes that can degrade the quality of the beam by
increasing phase-space area or can drive particle losses.
Typically, laboratory experiments and support simulations
identify effects, which are then further analyzed with
reduced simulations and analytic theory to understand
and mitigate any deleterious consequences. Graduatelevel
teaching is used to clarify advances and place
developments into context within the broader field.
At FRIB, I am presently seeking physics students with
interests in charged particle dynamics, electromagnetic
theory, and numerical modeling to assist me in simulations
and theory in support of FRIB now under construction at
MSU. The FRIB linear accelerator will deliver exceptionally
high-power beams to support nuclear physics via beams
of rare isotopes produced post-target. This should be one
of the premier accelerator facilities for nuclear physics
and will provide a fertile training ground for the next
generation of accelerator physicists to join this vibrant
field with broad opportunities.
Selected Publications
Envelope model for passive magnetic focusing of an
intense proton or ion beam propogating through thin
foils, S.M. Lund, R.H. Cohen, and P.A. Ni, Phys. Rev. ST –
Accel. and Beams 16, 044202 (2013).
Sheet beam model for intense space-charge: Application
to Debye screening and the distribution of particle
oscillation frequencies in a thermal equilibrium beam, S.M.
Lund, A. Friedman, and G. Bazouin, Phys. Rev. ST – Accel.
and Beams 14, 054201 (2011).
Space-charge transport limits of ion beam in periodic
quadrupole channels, S.M. Lund and S.R. Chawla, Nuc.
Instr. Meth. A 561, 203-208 (2006).
Simulations on the growth of beam phase-space volume
due to violent space-charge induced instabilities.
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Bill Lynch
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Symmetry Energy, HiRA, Fission, Nuclear Collisions
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• BS, Physics, University of Colorado, 1973
• PhD, Nuclear Physics, University of Washington, 1980
• Joined the laboratory in December 1980
• lynch@frib.msu.edu
Research
We have a broad experimental program in nuclear physics.
The main thrust of our program is to determine how the
equation of state of nuclear matter changes when we
increase the fraction of nucleons that are neutrons in the
matter. We can examine this at FRIB and we can apply
this knowledge to neutron stars.
Selected Publications
Constraints on the Density Dependence of the Symmetry
Energy, M.B. Tsang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 122701
(2009)
Probing the symmetry energy with heavy ions, W.G. Lynch
et al., Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 62, 427 (2009)
Comparision of Statistical Treatments for the Equations
of state for Core-collapse Supernovae, S.R. Souza et al.,
AP. J., 707 1495 (2009)
Biography
I was born and raised in Illinois. I started college as a
music major and ended as a physicist. Along the way I
became very interested in how to measure things and
also interested in learning what things were important
to measure.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
Students are at the core of our research efforts. Our goal is
for them to become self directed and lead in their research
efforts, while learning to work effectively in a team.
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Kei Minamisono
Research Senior Scientist and Adjunct Professor of
Physics
Keywords: Nuclear Structure, Charge Radius, Electromagnetic Moments, Laser
Spectroscopy, BECOLA
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• MS, Physics, Osaka University, 1996
• PhD, Physics, Osaka University, 1999
• Joined the laboratory in October 2004
• minamiso@frib.msu.edu
Research
What is the most fundamental property of a nucleus?
Arguably, the size or shape of the nucleus is one of
them. My current research interests is to determine the
size, shape or radius of a rare nucleus that occurs at/
near the existence limit of nuclei. The size of a nucleus
tells us how nucleons are distributed inside a nucleus.
It is essential to gain critical insights into the driving
nuclear forces of structural changes compared to stable
nuclei surrounding us. Therefore, the size of a nucleus
is driven by the nuclear equation of state (EoS). The
EoS determines the nature of dense nuclear matter,
like nucleus itself and neutron stars, which is not well
understood yet. It is remarkable that a terrestrial laser
spectroscopy experiment at the level of a nucleus
addresses astronomical properties of a neutron star.
Biography
I spent my childhood in a small town in Kyoto, a historical
city in Japan. There are a lot of shrines, temples, and
historic spots in my hometown, where I often visited for
a walk. After graduating high school in Kyoto, I went to
Osaka University for my graduate studies. I obtained
a Doctor of Science in nuclear physics in 1999, had two
postdoc positions in Osaka and TRIUMF in Canada, and
arrived at MSU in 2004. I am an experimentalist, and
like to see responses of nature to understand what is
happening. My current interest is to see the change
of nuclear size/shape toward the nucleon driplines
using laser-assisted precision techniques. This leads to
understandings of underlying nuclear forces and the
nuclear equation of state.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
A student in my group is typically responsible for
one development project and one laser spectroscopy
experiment where the student runs experiments, analyzes
data, interprets results and writes papers. Students will
have training opportunities to gain hands-on experience
in running laser spectroscopy experiments for nuclear
structure studies. We run laser spectroscopy experiments
online (with radioactive beams) as well as offline (with
stable beams produced locally). The experimental system
includes but is not limited to the operation of various laser
systems (CW and pulsed), the ion-beam production from
offline ion sources, the ion-beam transport, and the data
acquisition system.
Selected Publications
Implications of the 36Ca-36S and 38Ca-38Ar difference
in mirror charge radii on the neutron matter equation of
state, B. A. Brown et al., Phys. Rev. Research 2, 022035(R)
(2020).
Ground-state electromagnetic moments of 37Ca, A. Klose
et al., Phys. Rev. C 99, 061301(R) (2019).
Proton superfluidity and charge radii in proton-rich
calcium isotopes, A. J. Miller et al., Nature Physics 15, 432
(2019).
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Wolfgang Mittig
University Distinguished Professor of Physics
Keywords: Clustering and Resonances in Nuclei, Active Target Detectors,
FRIB Target and Beam Dump Magnetic Spectrometers (ISLA), Exploring Dark
Matter (Im)possibilities at our Lab
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• Hauptdiplom, University of Bonn, Germany, 1967
• Docteur ès Sciences, Université de Paris, 1971
• Livre Docente, University of Sao Paulo, 1977
• Joined the laboratory in January 2008
• mittig@frib.msu.edu
Research
Since my university studies, first in Germany and later in
France, I involved myself in very general problematics,
such as the foundation of quantum mechanics (Bell
inequality), together with more practical applications,
such as nuclear energy and environment. I am mainly
working on experimental nuclear physics, and more
specifically on the spectroscopy of exotic nuclei. in order
to study very rare nuclei far from stability. We developed
an “active target,” a detector in which the detection gas
is at the same time the target, in order to study rare
nuclei far from stability. This detector implies about
10,000 electronic channels and involves a challenging
track analysis related to pattern recognition methods.
Related to FRIB, I am working on a target and a beam
stopper for the 400kW beam. An achromatic isochronous
large acceptance spectrometer called ISLA is a project
for the reaccelerator. I am exploring possibilities (and
impossibilities) to study dark matter in our laboratory.
Current research projects and research opportunities:
• Experiments with the AT-TPC (Active Target -Time
Projection Chamber and its prototype (pAT-TPC)
with accepted experiments at FRIB, Triumf (Canada)
and RCNP (Japan)
• Analysis of these experiments
• Development of pit-hole detectors as Micro Pattern
Gas Detectors
• Development of a 3-He gas handling system with
purification and recovering of the gas
• The ISLA spectrometer: optics and magnetic elements
• A project of an Active Target for TRIUMF and FRIB
(submitted)
• Hydraulic flow in a rotating water filled drum for FRIB
• A device for study of (p,2p) reactions in combination
with the neutron detector MONA
• All theses projects imply as a start test devices at a
small scale, to be set up by students and be tested
in small scale experiments. Some of the technical
research is done in collaboration with industry via
SBIR (Small Business Innovation of Research).
Selected Publications
Direct Observation of Proton Emission in 11Be, Y. Ayyad, B.
Olaizola, W. Mittig, G. Potel, V. Zelevinsky. Physical Review
Letters, 123, 082501, 2019
Active targets for the study of nuclei far from stability,
S. Beceiro-Novo, T. Ahn, D. Bazin, W. Mittig, Progress in
Particle and Nuclear Physics, Volume 84, 2015, Pages 124-
165
Physics and technology of time projection chambers as
active targets. Y. Ayyad, D. Bazin, S. Beceiro-Novo. et al.
Eur. Phys. J. A (2018) 54: 181.
A schematic view of the Active Target Time Projection
Chamber. AT-TPC. The chamber is operated within a
large bore (1.2m) solenoid, to determine the energy of
the charged reaction products by the curvature of their
trajectory. The image of the trajectories will be read out
by 10,000 electronic channels.
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Fernando Montes
Research Staff Physicist
Keywords: SECAR, Nucleosynthesis, Matter Creation, Nuclear Astrophysics,
Machine Learning
Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics
About
• BA, Physics, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
1998
• PhD, Physics, Michigan State University 2005
• Joined the laboratory in March 2007
• montes@frib.msu.edu
Research
My research is on the field of experimental nuclear
astrophysics. I am interested in how matter is created in
our galaxy and what we need to experimentally study to
one day understand how it happens. I measure nuclear
properties and reactions relevant for matter creation using
a combination of different methods and detectors. The
second aspect of my research involves studying reactions
important in X-rays bursts. These events provide clues
on neutron stars but there are several important nuclear
reactions that need to be determined first. I study those
reactions indirectly by studying the nuclear properties of
the involved nuclei and in the near future directly with
new devices like SECAR.
Selected Publications
Constraining the Neutron Star Compactness: Extraction
of the 23Al(p,y) Reaction Rate for the rp Process, C. Wolf
et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 232701
Determining the rp-Process Flow through Ni 56:
Resonances in Cu57(p,y)Zn58 Identified with GRETINA,
C. Langer, F. Montes, et al., Physical review letters 113 (3),
032502
Production of light-element primary process nuclei
in neutrino-driven winds, A. Arcones, F. Montes, The
Astrophysical Journal 731 (1), 5
The r-process creates roughly half of the elements
heavier than iron in our galaxy. The weak r-process is
responsible for a large amount of those abundances
up to silver. Unfortunately, there are many things we
do not know about the process (where it takes place,
specific astrophysical conditions, etc.) since many of the
relevant nuclear physics are not yet known. I am currently
measuring many of those cross sections relevant in the
weak r-process. I am also working in the new Separator
for Capture Reactions (SECAR) which will be used
for measurements of low-energy capture reactions of
importance for nuclear astrophysics.
A new device like SECAR provides plenty of opportunities
for exiting nuclear astrophysics research. On top of that
we have started applying machine-learning algorithms in
order to properly tune and operate it. During the next few
years, SECAR not only will be at the vanguard of nuclear
astrophysics research but will also provide an ideal testing
ground to apply machine-learning techniques for beamtuning
optimization.
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Oscar Naviliat
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Mirror Symmetries, Weak Interaction (Parity Violation and Time
Reversal Invariance)
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• PhD Nuclear Physics, Cath. University of Louvain
(1989)
• Joined the laboratory in August 2010
• naviliat@frib.msu.edu
Research
The experimental tests of the foundations of physical theories
is a cross-disciplinary domain that can hardly be grabbed
by any particular subfield of physics. The measurements
carried out for such tests are performed using particles,
nuclei, atoms, molecules or crystals, and concern the
specific subfields within the experimental techniques
being used.
My research activities have been focused on experimental
tests of discrete symmetries in the weak interaction (parity
violation and time reversal invariance) and in the searches
for new interactions through precision measurements using
muons, neutrons, and nuclei, which in most cases were
spin polarized. Some measurements also required the use
traps, such as material-, electromagnetic-, or magnetogravitational
traps, for the confinement of particles. Precision
measurements at low energies are considered an alternative
route in the search for new particles and interactions as
compared to that pursued at the highest possible energies, in
collider experiments. In general, the principles of experiments
at low energies are rather simple, but the measurements are
difficult and challenging. The design of new experiments
requires implementing modern techniques in order to reach
new levels of sensitivity.
Atomic nuclei offer a very rich spectrum of candidates for
precision measurements at low energies due to the large
number of isotopes, the diversity of states, and the different
decay modes involving the fundamental interactions. The
abundant production of rare isotopes opens further the
spectrum for the design of new sensitive experiments.
My current activities at FRIB concern beta decay experiments
using either fast or stopped beams. Fast and clean beams
have made possible measurement of the energy spectra
of beta particles without instrumental effects which were
present in past measurements. This enables the search
for possible contributions of tensor type interactions in
Gamow-Teller transitions as a signature of physics beyond
the standard model. Another project is the measurement
of polarization correlations in beta decay, using low energy
polarized nuclei, to search for deviations from maximal parity
violation. This requires the construction of a new polarimeter
for positrons that will be used with beams polarized by laser
optical pumping.
The intellectual creativity in the design of experiments, and
in particular those addressing the foundations of physical
theories, has been fascinating to me.
Selected Publications
Prospects for Precision Measurements in Nuclear b Decay
in the LHC era O. Naviliat-Cuncic and M. Gonzalez-Alonso,
Ann. Phys. (Berlin) 525, 600 (2013)
Symmetry Tests in Nuclear Beta Decay N. Severijns and
O. Naviliat-Cuncic, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 61, 23 (2011)
Test of the Conserved Vector Current Hypothesis in
T=1/2 Mirror Transitions and New Determination of |Vud|
O. Naviliat-Cuncic and N. Severijns, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102,
142302 (2009)
The test of parity (mirror symmetry) in nuclear beta
decay provides a window to search for new interactions,
like those which could be mediated by right-handed
vector bosons.
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Witek Nazarewicz
University Distinguished Professor of Physics,
FRIB Chief Scientist
Keywords: Nuclear Structure, FRIB Science, Quantum Many-Body Problem,
Physics of Open Quantum Systems Machine Learning, High-Performance
Computing
Theoretical Nuclear Physics
About
• MS, Engineer in Technical Physics and Applied
Mathematics Warsaw University of Technology, 1977
• PhD, Physics, Institute for Nuclear Research, Warsaw,
1981
• Dr. hab., Physics, Warsaw University, 1986
• Joined the laboratory in August 2014
• witek@frib.msu.edu
Research
Atomic nuclei, the core of matter and the fuel of stars, are
self-bound collections of protons and neutrons (nucleons)
that interact through forces that have their origin in quantum
chromo-dynamics. Nuclei comprise 99.9% of all baryonic
matter in the Universe. The complex nature of the nuclear
forces among protons and neutrons yields a diverse and
unique variety of nuclear phenomena, which form the basis
for the experimental and theoretical studies. Developing a
comprehensive description of all nuclei, a long-standing goal
of nuclear physics, requires theoretical and experimental
investigations of rare atomic nuclei, i.e. systems with neutronto-proton
ratios larger and smaller than those naturally
occurring on earth. The main area of my professional activity
is the theoretical description of those exotic, short-lived
nuclei that inhabit remote regions of nuclear landscape. This
research invites a strong interaction between nuclear physics,
interdisciplinary, many-body-problem, high-performance
computing, and applied mathematics and statistics. Key
scientific themes that are being addressed by my research
are captured by overarching questions:
• How did visible matter come into being and how does
it evolve?
• How does subatomic matter organize itself and what
phenomena emerge?
• Are the fundamental interactions that are basic to the
structure of matter fully understood?
• How can the knowledge and technological progress
provided by nuclear physics best be used to benefit
society?
understanding of matter in neutron stars, and establish the
scientific foundation for innovative applications of nuclear
science to society. FRIB will be essential for gaining access
to key regions of the nuclear chart, where the measured
nuclear properties will challenge established concepts, and
highlight shortcomings and needed modifications to current
theory. Conversely, nuclear theory will play a critical role in
providing the intellectual framework for the science at FRIB,
and will provide invaluable guidance to FRIB’s experimental
programs.
Selected Publications
The limits of nuclear mass and charge, W. Nazarewicz,
Nature Phys. 14, 537 (2018).
Electron and nucleon localization functions of oganesson:
Approaching the Thomas-Fermi limit, P. Jerabek, B.
Schuetrumpf, P. Schwerdtfeger, and W. Nazarewicz, Phys.
Rev. Lett. 120, 053001 (2018)
Challenges in Nuclear Structure Theory, W. Nazarewicz, J.
Phys. G 43, 044002 (2016).
The quantified landscape of nuclear existence obtained
in the Bayesian model averaging calculations. For every
nucleus (Z,N) the probability pex that it is bound with
respect to proton and neutron decay, is shown. The
domains of nuclei which have been experimentally
observed and whose separation energies have been
measured are indicated. To provide a realistic estimate
of the discovery potential with modern radioactive ionbeam
facilities, the isotopes within FRIB’s experimental
reach are marked.
Physics of FRIB
FRIB will be a world-leading laboratory for the study of nuclear
structure, reactions and astrophysics. Experiments with
intense beams of rare isotopes produced at FRIB will guide
us toward a comprehensive description of nuclei, elucidate
the origin of the elements in the cosmos, help provide an
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Filomena Nunes
Professor of Physics, Managing Director of FRIB
Theory Alliance
Keywords: Reaction Theory, Weakly-bound Nuclear Systems, Breakup
Reactions, Transfer Reactions, Few-Body Methods, Uncertainty Quantification,
High-Performance Computing Indirect Methods in Astrophysics
Theoretical Nuclear Physics
About
• Engenharia Fisica Technologica, Instituto Superior
Tecnico Lisboa, 1992
• PhD, Theoretical Physics, University of Surrey,
England, 1995
• Joined the laboratory in February 2003
• nunes@frib.msu.edu
Research
Unstable nuclei are mostly studied through reactions,
because they decay back to stability, often lasting less
than a few seconds. Reaction theory makes the critical
connection between experiments such as the ones to be
performed at FRIB and nuclear properties or astrophysics.
Nuclei are many body systems of large complexity.
Describing a reaction while retaining all the complexity
of the projectile and target nuclei would be a daunting
task. Fortunately, to describe many direct reactions, only
a few structure degrees of freedom are necessary. Thus,
we develop simplified few-body models that retain the
important features.
Another important line of research in my group is the use
of Bayesian statistical tools to quantify the uncertainty
on our predictions and help in experimental design. The
few-body methods we use rely on effective potentials
between constituents that are not well known. The
uncertainties coming from these effective potentials need
to be quantified.
Biography
My interest in physics started in middle school. I had
questions about everything and initially thought I would
be an engineer. I did my undergraduate in Engineering
in Lisbon but realized theory was my real passion. I
moved to England for a PhD in Theoretical Physics. In
research, I started out with halo nuclei and modeling their
properties. That lead to the theory for nuclear reactions of
unstable nuclei and the connections to astrophysics. That
lead to uncertainty quantification, Bayesian statistics,
experimental design...
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
I enjoy developing new theory, working on equations
and considering their implementation into code. It is
very appealing to me that we are moving nuclear theory
toward a more fundamental formulation, and thus making
the theory more predictive, with known uncertainties.
Equally fun is being able to confront those predictions
with experimental data so we can learn from the data.
To me it is stimulating to be at the place where all the
action takes place! But the most important thing for me
is the interaction with my students. It’s really amazing to
see them absorb so much in a few years and mature into
scientists and then go do great things!
If you have an interest in joining my group, please contact
me. Usually I develop a starting project that serves as a
reaction theory introduction but also allows us to get to
know each other better before jumping into a full-fleshed
PhD project.
Selected Publications
Direct comparison between Bayesian and frequentist
uncertainty quantification for nuclear reactions, G.B. King,
A. Lovell, L. Neufcourt, F.M. Nunes Phys. Rev. Letts. 122,
232502 (2019).
Constraining Transfer Cross Sections Using Bayes’
Theorem, A. E. Lovell, F. M. Nunes. Phys. Rev. C 97, 064612
(2018).
Optical potential from first principles, J. Rotureau, P.
Danielewicz, G. Hagen, F.M. Nunes, and T. Papenbrock,
Phys. Rev. C 95, 024315 (2017).
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Brian O’Shea
Professor of Computational Mathematics, Science
and Engineering and Physics and Astronomy
Keywords: Galatic Chemical Evolution, Uncertainty Quantification High-
Performance Computing, Machine Learning Cosmological Structure Formation
Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics
About
• MS, Physics, 2002 University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign
• PhD, Physics, 2005 University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign
• Joined the laboratory in September 2015
• oshea@msu.edu
Research
My research focuses on the growth and evolution of galaxies
over the age of the Universe, as well as understanding the
behavior of the hot, diffuse plasmas that constitute much
of the baryons in and around galaxies (for example, the
interstellar medium). I do this using numerical simulations
on some of the world’s biggest supercomputers, and by
comparing those simulations to astronomical observations
and nuclear and plasma experiments. In relation to NSCL
and FRIB, I am particularly interested in using observations
of atomic abundances in stars, along with multi-messenger
astrophysical information from black holes, neutron
stars, and supernovae, to learn more about how stellar
populations grow within galaxies and in turn affect the
behavior of those galaxies.
Biography
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and went to the
University of Illinois as an undergraduate and graduate
student to study physics (BS in Engineering Physics, 2000;
PhD in Physics, 2005). I spent most of my PhD in residence
in the Laboratory for Computational Astrophysics at the
University of California at San Diego. After that, I spent
three years as a Director’s Postdoctoral Fellow at Los
Alamos National Laboratory before coming to Michigan
State University in 2008. I am one of the co-founders of
the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science
and Engineering and am currently the Director of the
Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research. I’m interested in
understanding how galaxies form and evolve over the age
of the universe (and how nuclear experiments and theory
can inform that understanding!), in how plasmas behave
in extreme conditions, and how students learn about
computational and data science.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
Undergraduate and graduate students are key members
of my research group. Our work focuses on using
computational models and data science techniques to
understand galaxies, and involves software development,
running and analyzing simulations, making synthetic
observations of those simulations, and comparing to real
astronomical observations (from, e.g., the Hubble Space
Telescope or the SOAR telescope). I have projects for
students that can range from data analysis suitable for
first-year undergraduates through software development
and simulation campaigns that would constitute an entire
PhD thesis. Much of this work ties to FRIB’s mission of
probing matter under extreme conditions, particularly in
astrophysical environments.
This is a figure of one of the first galaxies to form in the
universe, from a large-scale simulation including cosmological
expansion, dark matter, fluid dynamics, radiation transport,
and prescriptions for the formation and feedback of stars
and black holes. This image shows both stars and nebular
emission from ionized gas. Image credit: John Wise, Georgia
Institute of Technology.
Selected Publications
Probing the Ultraviolet Luminosity Function of the Earliest
Galaxies with the Renaissance Simulations, B.W. O’Shea,
J.H. Wise, H. Xu, M.L. Norman, ApJL, 805, 12 (2015)
Bringing Simulation and Observation Together to Better
Understand the Intergalactic Medium, H. Egan, B.D. Smith,
B.W. O’Shea, J.M. Shull, ApJ, 791, 64 (2014)
Dissecting Galaxy Formation Models with Sensitivity
Analysis—a New Approach to Constrain the Milky Way
Formation History F.A. Gomez, C. Coleman-Smith, B.W.
O’Shea, J. Tumlinson, R. Wolpert, ApJ, 787, 20 (2014)
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Peter Ostroumov
Professor of Physics, FRIB Accelerator Systems
Division Associate Director
Keywords: Accelerator Physics, RF Superconductivity, FRIB Energy Upgrade,
FRIB Multi-user Upgrade, Linear and Circular Accelerators for Radioactive
Beams
Accelerator Physics & Engineering
About
• PhD, Institute for Nuclear Research, Moscow, 1982
• Doctor of Science, Moscow Engineering Physical
Institute, 1993
• Joined the laboratory in August 2016
• ostroumov@frib.msu.edu
Research
Particle accelerators are major tools for discovery in nuclear
physics, high energy physics and basic energy science. A
new national-user facility for nuclear science, FRIB is based
on a state-of-the-art 400 kW superconducting linear
accelerator. FRIB employs large number of accelerator
physicists and engineers and attracted significant
DOE funding for education of graduate students under
ASET program. Currently, FRIB is approaching to the
commencement of user operation. The main focus of
the Accelerator Physics Department is the detailed
understanding of beam physics issues in this new facility to
achieve the design beam power and deliver wide selection
of isotopes to the experiments. A significant innovative
engineering effort will be necessary to achieve routine
operation with 400 kW beam power. At the same time,
research and development (R&D) for future FRIB upgrade
scenarios is being pursued to enable new high-priority
and high-impact research opportunities. This task requires
strong communication between accelerator physicists,
engineers and nuclear physicists to understand the highest
priority research. The list of possible short-term and midterm
accelerator R&D goals includes the development of
a cost-effective option for a high energy upgrade of the
FRIB driver linac which will be based on newly developed
medium-beta superconducting (SC) cavities (see the
photo) capable of doubling the energy of FRIB beams over
the available space of 80 meters.
Other R&D tasks include the development of multitarget
driver linac operation with the simultaneous
acceleration of light and heavy ions, and the development
and implementation of techniques to increase efficiency
for delivery of radioactive ion beam species to the
user experiments, the post-accelerator, and their postacceleration.
The long-term accelerator R&D will enable the
best science in the world at an expanded FRIB which may
include storage rings and a radioactive-ion-electron collider.
These accelerator R&D topics open vast opportunities
to involve PhD students and post-doctoral researchers.
In the past 10 years I have guided a group of scientists,
engineers, young researchers, students, and technicians
who have developed and implemented several innovative
accelerator systems such as high performance SC cavities
and cryomodules, a CW RFQ with trapezoidal vane tip
modulations, an EBIS for the fast and efficient breeding of
radioactive ions; designed and demonstrated several new
accelerating structures for ion linacs, developed and built
bunch length detectors for CW ion beams, and profile and
emittance measurement devices for rare-isotope beams.
The photo shows the newly developed room-temperature
continuous wave accelerating structure built for bunching
of FRIB beams after the stripper.
I eagerly look forward to applying this expertise to new
and challenging technical issues with students and postdocs
at FRIB.
Selected Publications
Efficient continuous wave accelerating structure for ion
beams, P.N. Ostroumov, et al., Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 23,
042002 – Published 8 April 2020.
Beam commissioning in the first superconducting
segment of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. P.N.
Ostroumov, et al., Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 22, 080101 –
Published 7 August 2019.
Elliptical superconducting RF cavities for FRIB energy
upgrade, P.N. Ostroumov, et al., Nuclear Inst. and Methods
in Physics Research, A 888 (2018) 53–63.
Left: Niobium superconducting elliptical cavity for FRIB
Upgrade to 400 MeV/u capable to provide 12.4 MV
accelerating voltage. Right: High-efficient room temperature
continuous wave interdigital H-type resonator for bunching
of FRIB beams.
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Scott Pratt
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions, QCD Computation, Phenomenology
Theoretical Nuclear Physics
About
• PhD, Theoretical Nuclear Physics, University of
Minnesota, 1985
• Joined the laboratory in October 1992
• pratt@frib.msu.edu
Research
My research centers on the theoretical description and
interpretation of relativistic heavy ion collisions. In these
experiments, heavy nuclei such as gold or lead, are collided
head-on at ultrarelativistic energies at RHIC, located at
Brookhaven, or at the LHC at CERN. The resulting collisions
can create mesoscopic regions where temperatures exceed
1012 kelvin. At these temperatures, densities become so
high that hadrons overlap, which makes it impossible to
identify individual hadrons. Thus, one attains a new state
of matter, the strongly interacting quark gluon plasma. The
QCD structure of the vacuum, which through its coupling
to neutrons and protons is responsible for much of the
mass of the universe, also melts at these temperatures.
Unfortunately, the collision volumes are so small (sizes
of a few time 10-15 m) and the expansions are so rapid
(expands and disassembles in less that 10-21 s) that direct
observation of the novel state of matter is impossible.
Instead, one must infer all properties of the matter from
the measured momenta of the outgoing particles. Thus,
progress is predicated on careful and detailed modeling of
the entire collision.
Modeling heavy-ion collisions invokes tools and methods
from numerous disciplines: quantum transport theory,
relativisitic hydrodynamics, non-perturbative statistical
mechanics, and traditional nuclear physics—to name a
few. I have been particularly involved in the development
of femtoscopic techniques built on the phenomenology
of two-particle correlations. After their last randomizing
collision, a pair of particles will interact according to the
well-understood quantum two-body interaction. This
results in a measurable correlation which can be extracted
as a function of the pair’s center of mass momentum and
relative momentum. Since the correlation is sensitive to
how far apart the particles are emitted in time and space,
it can be used to quantitatively infer crucial properties of
the space-time nature of the collision. These techniques
have developed into a field of their own, and have proved
invaluable for determining the space-time evolution
of the system from experiment. I have also developed
phenomenological tools for determining the chemical
evolution of the QCP from correlations driven by charge
conservation. These correlations, at a quantitative level,
have shown that the quark content of the matter created
in heavy-ion collisions at the RHIC or at the LHC indeed
have roughly the expected densities of up, down and
strange quarks. Other work has included transport tools,
such as hydrodynamics and Boltzman distributions, as
applied to relativistic collisions, and methods for exact
calculations of canonical ensembles with complicated
sets of converted charges.
From 2009 through 2015, I was the principal investigator
for the Models and Data Analysis Initiative (MADAI)
collaboration, which was funded by the NSF through the
Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation initiative. MADAI
involves nuclear physicists, cosmologists, astrophysicists,
atmospheric scientists, statisticians and visualization
experts from MSU, Duke, and the University of North
Carolina. The goal is to develop statistical tools for
comparing large heterogenous data sets to sophisticated
multi-scale models. In particular, I have worked to use data
from RHIC and the LHC to extract fundamental properties
of the matter created in high-energy heavy-ion collisions.
Selected Publications
Determining Fundamental Properties of Matter Created
in Ultrarelativistic Heavy-Ion Collision, J. Novak, K. Novak,
S. Pratt, C. Coleman-Smith, R. Wolpert, arXiv:1303.5769
(2013)
Identifying the Charge Carriers of the Quark-Gluon
Plasma, S. Pratt, Physical Review Letters, 108, 212301
(2012)
Resolving the HBT Puzzle in Relativistic Heavy-Ion
Collisions, S. Pratt, Physical Review Letters 102, 232301
(2009)
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Ryan Ringle
Research Senior Physicist
Keywords: Nuclear Structure, Fundamental Symmetries, Nuclear Astrophysics,
LEBIT, Penning Traps
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• BS, Physics & Math, Michigan Technological
University Houghton, MI 2000
• PhD, Nuclear Physics, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, MI 2006
• Joined the laboratory in 2009
• ringle@frib.msu.edu
Research
Since these rare isotopes are very short lived they don’t
exist naturally on Earth and must be produced at facilities
like FRIB. In addition to performing mass measurements,
I am involved in technological developments required
to provide low-energy, rare-isotope beams to precision
experiments. At FRIB the rare isotopes are produced at
high energies that are not compatible with high-precision
mass measurements, so they must first be slowed down
using devices known as gas stoppers. These devices bring
a rare-isotope beam moving at a fraction of the speed of
light to rest. Then the stopped beam can be extracted
quickly, and at low energies, and delivered to highprecision
experiments such as the Low-Energy Beam
and Ion Trap (LEBIT) facility. The LEBIT facility employs
ion traps, called Penning traps, to confine ions in space
using a combination of electric and magnetic fields. By
manipulating the ions in the Penning trap it is possible
to determine their cyclotron frequency from which the
ion’s mass can be determined. LEBIT has performed mass
measurements of rare isotopes with half-lives less than
100 ms and with relative precisions on the order of 1 part
per billion. A typical measurement requires about 100
detected isotopes. However, some of the most interesting
rare isotopes are very difficult to produce and would be
delivered to LEBIT at a rate of 1 per day, or less. Using
the original LEBIT Penning trap is not feasible due to the
extreme length of time required. In order to enable highprecision
mass measurements of these very rare isotopes
a new Single Ion Penning Trap (SIPT) system has been
integrated into LEBIT and is currently being commissioned.
SIPT is the first device of its kind for mass measurements
of rare isotopes and employs a new highly- sensitive,
superconducting detection system that can amplify the
signal of a single trapped isotope moving in the Penning
trap. This combination of ultimate sensitivity and the
isotope production capabilities of FRIB will enable highprecision
mass measurements of rare isotopes that can’t
be performed anywhere else in the world.
My primary research interests include nuclear structure,
nuclear astrophysics, and fundamental interactions.
What all of these topics have in common is that they
rely on mass measurements of rare isotopes. The mass
of an atom is actually less than the mass of all of its
constituent particles as a small portion of the total mass
is in the form of energy that binds the atom together.
By measuring the mass of an atom to extremely high
precision you can actually determine this binding energy
which plays an important role in the research topics
mentioned previously.
The SIPT ion trap with a U.S. quarter for scale. This trap is
half the size of the original LEBIT ion trap and is cooled
to liquid helium temperature to enable detection of a
single trapped ion.
Selected Publications
High-Precision Mass Measurement of
56
Cu and the
Redirection of the rp-Process Flow, A. A. Valverde et al,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120 (2018) 032701
High Precision Determination of the β Decay QEC Value of
11
C and Implications on the Tests of the Standard Model, K.
Gulyuz et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116 (2016) 012501
Precision mass measurements of neutron-rich Co isotopes
beyond N=40, C. Izzo et al, Phys. Rev. C 97 (2018) 014309
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Kenji Saito
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Superconducting Radio Frequency System, High Purity Niobium
Material, SRF Cavity Processing, Cavity and Cryostat Design for FRIB
Cryomodule
Accelerator Physics
About
• BS, Mathematics and Physics, Ritsumeikan University,
1977
• PhD, Nuclear Physics, Tohoku University, Japan, 1983
• Joined the laboratory in April 2012
• saito@frib.msu.edu
Research
The accelerator is the base tool for nuclear physics, high
energy physics, light sources, medical applications, and so
on. Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) Systems are
an application of microwave acceleration for ion beams.
The principle is the same as normal conducting RF system,
but SRF systems use superconducting technology, which
allows high-quality beam acceleration with very high
efficiency. It is a key technology for current world-wide
accelerator projects for nuclear science and high energy
physics. SRF systems are a state-of-the art technology to
open new areas of particle physics. The FRIB Project at
MSU utilizes this system for a major part of the accelerator.
I joined FRIB graduate school education program serving
as the FRIB SRF development manager since 2012.
The main part of an SRF system is the so-called cryomodule
and RF system. A cryomodule consists of a cryostat and
SRF cavities included therein. Ionized beam is accelerated
by SRF cavities, which is made of superconducting material
and cooled by liquid helium at below 4.2K. A cryostat is a
kind of Thermos bottle to keep SRF cavities at such a low
temperature. Niobium material has been utilized for SR
cavities, which has high-quality superconducting features:
higher superconducting transition temperature Tc=9.25K
and higher thermodynamic critical field Hc=200mT.
Niobium has a good forming performance to fabricate
cavities. Development of high-quality niobium is always
a concern and I have been working on high purity
niobium material. My latest concern is single crystalline
niobium ingot or other new materials. In RF cavity
design it is very important to have an excellent SC cavity
performance, which has to be simulated intensively
by specific computing cords. I have developed a high
gradient SRF cavity shape with an acceleration gradient
> 50MV/m and demonstrated the high-performance,
which is a world record so far. This activity will applied
other new SRF systems.
The SR cavity performance subjects to very shallow
surface characteristics where the RF surface current
flows. Particle/defect free clean surface is especially
crucial. Chemical clean surface preparation and clean
assembly technology are key technologies. I have
developed electropolishing method for elliptical shaped
the SRF cavity and confirmed it is the best process for
high gradient cavities. This technology will be applied to
low beta cavities and push the gradient in order to make
the SRF system more compact.
Cryostat design includes lots of engineering and material
issues. We are investing a lot on this subject in ongoing
FRIB cryomodule. The RF system is another exciting
place to study. Concerning SRF, high-power coupler is an
important issue to develop. The design of multipacting
free high power coupler structure and cleaning technology,
TiN coating technologies, would make for a great theme
for a thesis. Thus the SRF systems cover various sciences
and super-technologies: electromagnetic dynamics,
superconducting material science, plastic forming
technology, ultra-clean technology, ultra-high vacuum,
cryogenics, RF technology, mechanical/electric engineer.
The SR system is an exciting place to study. Any students
from physics, chemistry, materials, and mechanical/
electric engineering are welcome to join this project.
Selected Publications
State-of-the-Art and Future Prospects in RF
Superconductivity, K. Saito, 2012 International Particle
Accelerator Conference (2012).
Multi-wire Slicing of Large Grain Ingot Material, K. Saito
et al., the 14th Workshop on RF Superconductivity 2009
(SRF2009).
Gradient Yield Improvement Efforts for Single and Multi-
Cells and Progress for Very High Gradient Cavities, K.
Saito, the 13rd Workshop on RF Superconductivity 2007
(SRF2007).
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Hendrik Schatz
University Distinguished Professor of Physics,
JINA-CEE Department Head
Keywords: Nuclear Astrophysics, Recoil Separator, Gas Target Neutron
Detectors, Neutron Stars, r-process
Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics
About
• MS, Physics, University of Karlsruhe, 1993
• PhD, Physics, University of Heidelberg, 1997
• Joined the laboratory in December 1999
• schatz@frib.msu.edu
Research
The goal of our experimental and theoretical research
program is to understand the nuclear processes that shape
the cosmos by creating elements and generating energy.
The focus is on the most extreme environments thought to
exist in nature: thermonuclear explosions on neutron stars;
neutron star collisions; core collapse supernovae; and the
strange insides of neutron stars, where rare isotopes are
stable and cold fusion is actually happening. Most student
projects in our group cut across experiment and theory,
and across nuclear physics and astrophysics. Experiments
restage at FRIB the same reactions that happen in
astrophysical environments and include opportunities to
use, design, and build new equipment. Theory focuses on
a broad range of astrophysical computer models that can
be used to identify interesting nuclear processes, explore
the impact of new measurements, and compare with
observations. Ultimately we seek to answer the question
of how the incredible variety of elements our world is
made of came about.
Biography
I grew up in Lörrach in Germany, located right where
Germany, Switzerland, and France meet. I got interested
in nuclear astrophysics when studying in Karlsruhe,
Germany and went to Notre Dame to do my PhD in that
field. In addition to Notre Dame I performed experiments
at Argonne, IUCF, and TRIUMF. I did a short three-month
postdoc at UC Berkeley in the astronomy department,
before working on storage rings at GSI in Germany, and
then coming to MSU in 1999 to build an experimental
nuclear astrophysics program. I co-founded with
colleagues at Notre Dame and Chicago the Joint Institute
for Nuclear Astrophysics, now JINA-CEE and IReNA.
The goal of these was to create a research environment
where discipline boundaries disappear, and we combine
interdisciplinary expertise across institutions. When
FRIB offered the opportunity for low-energy beams I
got interested in building the SECAR recoil separator,
which is just now being completed and will enable direct
measurements of astrophysical reactions.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
Our group uses a very broad range of detectors, separators,
and spectrometers to answer a variety of open questions.
It is embedded in the JINA-CEE and IReNA collaborative
networks providing national and international networking
opportunities, including opportunities for research stays
and exchanges (for example to work on a particular
interpretation of experimental results), visits, and many
leadership and professional development opportunities.
The goal in our group is to create an environment where
all students can be successful and can follow their interests
across fields as well as across experiment and theory, while
getting prepared for a broad range of careers in industry,
national laboratories, academia, or nuclear astrophysics. We
fully support and follow the FRIB and Physics Department
code of conduct, as well as the newly developed JINA-CEE
code of conduct.
Artist’s view of a neutron star that accretes matter from
a companion.
Selected Publications
Reaction Rate Sensitivity of the Production of betaray
Emitting Isotopes in Core-Collapse Supernova, K.
Hermansen et al., arXiv:2006.16181
Status of the JENSA gas-jet target for experiments with
rare isotope beams, K. Schmidt et al., Nuclear Inst. and
Methods in Physics Research, A, Volume 911, p. 1-9 (2018)
Constraining the Neutron Star Compactness: Extraction
of the 23Al (p,b) Reaction Rate for the r p Process, C. Wolf
et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 2701 (2019).
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Gregory Severin
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Keywords: Isotope Production, Radiochemistry, Applied Nuclear Physics
Radiochemistry
About
• MS, Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
2006
• PhD, Nuclear Physics, University of Wisconsin-
Madison, 2010
• Joined the laboratory in August 2016
• severin@frib.msu.edu
Research
Our group is developing a method for collecting and
purifying byproduct radionuclides from FRIB called
“isotope harvesting.” Harvested isotopes will be used
as research tools in other areas like nuclear medicine,
biosystems radiotracing, and nuclear data for security
applications.
Selected Publications
Abel EP, Avilov M, Ayres V, Birnbaum E, Bollen G,
Bonito G, et al. Isotope Harvesting at FRIB: Additional
opportunities for scientific discovery. J Phys G Nucl Part
Phys 2019;46:100501.doi:10.1088/1361-6471/ab26cc.
Abel EP, Clause HK, Fonslet J, Nickles RJ, Severin GW. Halflives
of la 132 and la 135. Phys Rev C 2018;97. doi:10.1103/
PhysRevC.97.034312.
Fonslet J, Lee BQ, Tran TA, Siragusa M, Jensen M, Kibédi
T, et al. 135 La as an Auger-electron emitter for targeted
internal radiotherapy. Phys Med Biol 2017;63:015026.
doi:10.1088/1361-6560/aa9b44.
Biography
I grew up in Okemos, Michigan, and have been
fascinated with nuclear science since visiting the National
Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at MSU as a
teenager. I worked on high-precision beta spectroscopy
as a graduate student, and then went on to isotope
production for medical applications as a postdoc. I was
fortunate to spend several years at the Technical University
of Denmark as a scientist in applied nuclear physics and
radiochemistry before returning to the Lansing area for a
faculty appointment in 2016.
How students can contribute as part of
my research team
Students in my group have an opportunity to bridge the
cutting-edge nuclear physics technology at FRIB to other
fields. This allows broad definition of a PhD project and lets
the students decide how deep into any subject they want
to dive. The expectation for students in my group is that
they will acquire a working knowledge of nuclear physics
and at least one other topic, like medical imaging, detector
physics, inorganic chemistry, or analytical chemistry. All
viewpoints are welcome, and creativity is encouraged.
Illustration of isotope harvesting and medical applications.
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Bradley Sherrill
University Distinguished Professor of Physics,
FRIB Scientific Director
Keywords: Rare Isotope Production, Ion Optics, Drip Line Search
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• BA, Physics, Coe College, 1980
• MS, Physics, Michigan State University, 1982
• PhD, Physics, Michigan State University, 1985
• Joined the laboratory in January 1985
• sherrill@frib.msu.edu
Research
Approximately 270 isotopes are found naturally. However,
many more isotopes, nearly 7,000 in total, can be
produced by particle accelerators or in nuclear reactors.
These isotopes are radioactive and spontaneously decay
to more stable forms, and I work to produce and separate
new and interesting ones.
There are several reasons why a latent demand exists
within the scientific community for new, rare isotopes.
One is that the properties of particular isotopes often
hold the key to understanding some aspect of nuclear
science. Another is that the rate of certain nuclear
reactions involving rare isotopes can be important for
modeling astronomical objects, such as supernovae. Yet
another is that the properties of atomic nuclei can be
used to test nature’s fundamental symmetries by searches
for deviations from known symmetry laws. Finally, the
production of isotopes benefits many branches of science
and medicine as the isotopes can be used as sensitive
probes of biological or physical processes.
isotopes and work to better understand the best ways to
produce any given isotope. We use and work to improve
the modeling code LISE++, which involves interesting
problems in computational science.
Research in this area includes study and design of
magnetic ion optical devices. learning the various nuclear
production mechanisms and improving models to
describe them. This background allows one to contribute
to science by making new isotopes, but also prepares one
for a broad range of careers in academia, government
(e.g. national security), and industry.
Selected Publications
NSCL and FRIB at Michigan State University: Nuclear
science at the limits of stability; A. Gade and B.M. Sherrill,
Physica Scripta Volume: 91 (2016) 053003
Design of the Advanced Rare Isotope Separator ARIS at
FRIB; M. Hausmann, et. al., Nucl. Instruments and Methods
B, on-line (2013)
Location of the Neutron Dripline at Fluorine And Neon
Isotopes; Ahn DS, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 123 (2019) 212501;
Discovery of 60Ca and Implications For the Stability of
70Ca, O. B. Tarasov, et al., Phys.
Rev. Lett. 121 (2018) 022501
The tools for production and separation of rare
isotopes gives scientists access to designer nuclei with
characteristics that can be adjusted to the research need.
For example, super-heavy isotopes of light elements,
such as lithium, have a size nearly five times the size of
a normal lithium nucleus. The existence of such nuclei
allows researchers to study the interaction of neutrons
in nearly pure neutron matter, similar to what exists in
neutron stars.
For production of new isotopes, the approach that I have
helped develop is called in-flight separation; where a
heavy ion, such as a uranium nucleus, is broken up at high
energy. This produces a cocktail beam of fragments that
are filtered by a downstream system of magnets called
a fragment separator. Our current research is focused
on preparing for experiments at FRIB where we hope
to discover nearly 1,000 new isotopes. Simultaneously,
we will study the nuclear reactions that produce new
The rich variety of nuclei is indicated by the depiction of
three isotopes 4 He, 11 Li, and 220 Ra overlaid on the chart of
nuclides where black squares indicate the combination
of neutrons and protons that result in stable isotopes,
yellow those produced so far, and green those that might
exist. Nuclei like 11 Li have very different characteristics,
such as a diffuse surface of neutron matter, than do
normal nuclei.
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Jaideep Taggart Singh
Associate Professor of Physics
Keywords: Fundamental Symmetries, Nuclear Astrophysics, Single Atom
Microscope, Electric Dipole Moments, Single Atom Microscope for Nuclear
Astrophysics
s
Experimental Atomic & Nuclear Physics
About
• BS, Physics, California Institute of Technology, 2000
• PhD, Physics, University of Virginia, 2010
• Joined the laboratory in August 2014
• singhj@frib.msu.edu
Research
Why is there something rather than nothing? Physicists
believe that there were equal amounts of matter and
antimatter in the early history of the universe, but now
the observable universe is composed of matter – so how
did the antimatter vanish? The answer could be rooted
in the nature of forces between subatomic particles that
are not the same when the arrow of time is reversed.
Physicists theorize that this time-reversal violation is the
key ingredient needed to unravel the cosmic mystery
of the missing antimatter. Such time-reversal violating
forces result in a property in particles called a permanent
electric dipole moment (EDM). Pear-shaped nuclei are
expected to amplify the effect of time-reversal violation
and consequently have large potentially observable
EDMs making these nuclei particularly sensitive to new
kinds of previously unobserved Physics. These nuclei are
typically radioactive, but FRIB will produce some of them
in abundance for the first time.
Biography
I was born in India but grew up mostly in Canada and
Texas. My father is a theoretical physicist and my mother
was trained as a historian. Their background instilled me
with a love of textbooks and a particular appreciation for
the conceptual development of ideas. I went to college
at the California Institute of Technology where I was
given a chance to engage in undergraduate research with
no previous experience. It was there that I developed a
passion for creating, manipulating, and detecting spinpolarized
nuclei. After being denied admission to several
graduate schools, I was finally offered admission to the
University of Virginia, the alma mater of the laboratory’s
founding director, Professor Henry Blosser. After a decade
in graduate school, UVa mercifully kicked me out with a
PhD. After postdocs at Argonne National Laboratory and
the Technical University of Munich, I started my faculty
position here in 2014.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
Please tell me about your favorite book. Since becoming
more established in my research area, I don’t worry about my
career and will spend 100% of my time helping you achieve
your career goals - how can I help you? Regarding research
experience in my group, you will be expected to perform the
Hughes Trilogy: build something, experimentally measure
something, and theoretically calculate/simulate something.
We play with, amongst other things, lasers, vacuum
chambers, cryogenic equipment, and magnetic & electric
fields. FRIB will provide access to Ra-225 and Pa-229, which
would present an unprecedented opportunity to test timereversal
violation.
Selected Publications
Development of high-performance alkali-hybrid polarized
He3 targets for electron scattering, Jaideep T. Singh, et al.
Phys. Rev. C 91, 055205 (2015)
A large-scale magnetic shield with 106 damping at
millihertz frequencies, I. Altarev et al., J. Appl. Phys. 117,
183903 (2015)
First Measurement of the Atomic Electric Dipole Moment
of Ra-225, R. H. Parker, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 233002
(2015)
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Artemis Spyrou
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics, Nucleosynthesis SuN Detector,
Nuclear Reactions
Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics
About
• MS, Physics, National Technical University of Athens,
2003
• PhD, Physics, National Technical University of
Athens, 2007
• Joined the laboratory in May 2007
• spyrou@frib.msu.edu
Research
My research is in the field of nuclear astrophysics. One
of the most important questions we are trying to answer
is how the elements we see around us are created in the
Universe. Today we know that most of these elements
are synthesized inside stars. Some of these processes
take place in stellar explosions, like supernovae, and they
involve very exotic nuclei. My group studies the nuclear
reactions that drive these stellar processes. To study these
exotic nuclear reactions my group developed one of the
most efficient γ-ray detectors in the world, SuN. We have
used SuN at many different locations in the laboratory
as well as at other nuclear physics facilities in the United
States. For our experiments we collaborate with other
groups in the laboratory and from all over the world, like
Norway, Canada, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
We each bring different expertise and work together to
answer the important question: “How are the elements
formed in the Universe?”
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
Students in my group work on all aspects of nuclear
astrophysics, and often focus more or less on particular
projects based on their interests. They prepare and run
experiments, perform simulations, analyze data, propose
new experiments, run theoretical and astrophysical
calculations, contribute in new experimental developments,
and travel to other labs for experiments. This is one of my
favorite parts about this field; it’s a group effort but at the
same time everyone gets to experience every part of the
work. The day-to-day activities change all the time so it’s
never boring. The cycle of an experiment, from proposal,
to execution, analysis, interpretation, and publication
takes about five years, which is perfect for the timeline of
a graduate student.
Selected Publications
Strong Neutron-γ Competition above the Neutron
Threshold in the Decay of 70 Co, A. Spyrou, S. N. Liddick, et
al. Physical Review Letters 117 (2016) 142701
Novel technique for constraining r-process (n,γ) reaction
rates. A. Spyrou, S.N. Liddick et. al., Physical Review
Letters 113 (2014) 232502
Experimental Neutron Capture Rate Constraint far from
stability. S.N. Liddick, A. Spyrou, et al, Physical Review
Letters 116 (2016) 242502
Biography
I was born in Cyprus, in the beautiful city of Limassol. In
1997 I moved to Greece, where I pursued my undergraduate
studies in the Physics Department of the Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki. During my senior year I found
myself falling in love with every nuclear physics class I took.
After my graduation, in 2001, I started my graduate studies
in experimental nuclear astrophysics at the Institute of
Nuclear Physics, NCSR “Demokritos,” Athens, Greece
and the National Technical University of Athens. For my
PhD work, I used the local 5MV Tandem accelerator, as
well as the Dynamitron Tandem accelerator (DTL) of the
University of Bochum, Germany. Since 2007, I have been
at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory
(NSCL) and the Department of Physics and Astronomy
at Michigan State University (MSU). At MSU, I have held
various appointments (Research Associate, Assistant
Professor, Associate Professor), and currently I am a
Professor of Physics and the Faculty Outreach Advisor for
FRIB.
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The SuN detector is shown next to an artist’s rendition of
astronomical events.
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Andreas Stolz
Professor, Operations Department Head
Keywords: Rare Isotope Production with Fragment Separators, Structure of
Nuclei at the Limits of Existence, Particle Detector Development
s
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• MS, Physics, Technological University of Munich 1995
• PhD, Physics, Technological University of Munich,
2001
• Joined the laboratory in June 2001
• stolz@frib.msu.edu
Research
My primary research interest is centered on the production
of rare isotope beams with fragment separators and the
study of the structure of nuclei at the limits of existence.
At FRIB, rare-isotope beams are produced by projectile
fragmentation. The coupled cyclotrons accelerate stable
ions to a velocity up to half the speed of light. The fast ions
then impinge on a production target where they break up
into fragments of different mass and charges. Most of the
fragments are unstable, and many of them have an unusual
ratio of protons and neutrons. To study their properties,
the fragments of interest need to be separated from all
other produced particles. The A1900 fragment separator
at FRIB filters rare isotopes by their magnetic properties
and their energy loss in thin metal foils. Detector systems
installed in the path of the beam allow the unambiguous
identification of every single isotope transmitted through
the device. The large acceptance of the separator
together with intense primary beams from the cyclotrons
allow access to the most exotic nuclei that exist, some
of which were observed for the first time at FRIB. The
investigation of the limits of nuclear stability provides a
key benchmark for nuclear models and is fundamental to
the understanding of the nuclear forces and structure.
Another research area is the development of particle
detectors made from diamond produced by chemical
vapor. Radioactive beam facilities of the newest generation
can produce rare isotope beams with very high intensities.
The special properties of diamond allow the development
of radiation-hard timing and tracking detectors that can
be used at incident particle rates up to 108 particles per
second. Detectors based on poly-crystalline diamond were
built and tested at FRIB and excellent timing properties
were achieved. Those detectors have been successfully
used as timing detectors in several FRIB experiments.
First, detectors based on single-crystal diamond showed
superior efficiency and energy resolution. Further
development will continue with the investigation of
properties of single-crystal diamond detectors and the
production of position-sensitive detectors with larger
active areas.
Selected Publications
Degradation of single crystal diamond detectors in swift
heavy ion beams, A. Bhattacharya et al., Diamond and
Related Materials 70, 124 (2016)
Evidence for a Change in the Nuclear Mass Surface with
the Discovery of the Most Neutron-Rich Nuclei with 17 ≤ Z
≤ 25, O.B. Tarasov et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 142501 (2009)
First observation of two-proton radioactivity in 48 Ni, M.
Pomorski et al., Phys. Rev. C 83, 061303 (2011).
Particle identification plot showing the energy loss in a
silicon detector as a function of time-of-flight through
the A1900 fragment separator. The separator tune was
optimized for 60 Ge, a rare isotope observed for the first
time at FRIB.
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Betty Tsang
Professor
Keywords: Equation of State, Neutron Stars, Time Projection Chamber
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• BS, Mathematics, California State College, 1973
• MS, Chemistry, University of Washington, 1978
• PhD, Chemistry, University of Washington, 1980
• Joined the laboratory in December 1980
• tsang@frib.msu.edu
Research
As an experimentalist, I study collisions of nuclei at energies
at approximately half the speed of light. From the collisions
of nuclei, we can create environments that resemble the first
moments of the universe after the big bang. Properties of
extra-terrestrial objects such as neutron stars can be obtained
from studying collisions of a variety of nuclei with different
compositions of protons and neutrons. One important
research area of current interest is the density dependence
of the symmetry energy, which governs the stability as well
as other properties of neutron stars. Symmetry energy also
determines the degree of stability in nuclei.
Recent advance in gravitational wave astronomy led to the
discovery of the binary neutron star merger, GW170817,
in August 2017. When two neutron stars are within a few
hundreds of kilometer, they exert a tidal force (similar to
the force the moon exerts on the ocean of the earth) to
each other. By measuring the deformation of the neutron
stars due to this tidal force, one can deduce how neutron
star matter reacts to pressure, temperature and density.
We aim to extract information from our experiments to be
so stringent that the uncertainties will be smaller than the
vertical width of the contours and can thus distinguish the
two forms of predicted symmetry pressure.
To explore the density region above normal nuclear matter
density (which is the density of the nucleus you encounter
everyday, 2.3x10 14 kg/cm 3 ), experiments are planned at FRIB,
as well as RIKEN, Japan. Our group built a Time Projection
Chamber (TPC) that was installed in the SAMURAI magnet
in RIKEN, Japan. The TPC detects charged particles as well
as pions (about 1/7 times the mass of proton) emitted from
nucleus-nucleus collisions. We studied the collisions using 132 Sn
(heavy radioactive tin isotope) and 108 Sn (light radioactive tin
isotopes) in 124 Sn and 112 Sn, heaviest and lightest stable tin targets.
The pions detected in this experiment allow us to extract the
symmetry pressure at twice of the nuclear matter density.
neutrons) as well as the crossed reactions of 124 Sn+ 112 Sn, and
112
Sn+ 124 Sn using a state of the art high resolution detector
array (HiRA) and a large area neutron wall. We measure
isospin diffusions, which is related to the symmetry energy
as the degree of isospin transferred in violent encounters of
the projectile and target depends on the symmetry energy
potentials. Through measurements and comparisons to the
model simulations, we are able to obtain a constraint on the
density dependence of the symmetry energy below normal
nuclear matter density as shown in the blue star in the figure.
This marks the density and pressure region when the crust of
the neutron star with very low density starts to transition into
a liquid core region composed mainly of neutrons.
In addition to experiments, we carry out transport
simulations of nuclear collisions at the High Performance
Computer Center at MSU in our quest to understand
the role of symmetry energy in nuclear collisions,
nuclear structure and neutron stars. Our recent series of
experiments using Ca isotope beams on tin and nickel
isotope targets would allow us to place constraints on
various input parameters used to mimic the physics of
the nuclear interactions in these transport models. We
aim to have better symmetry energy constraints that have
smaller errors than the current astronomical ones.
Selected Publications
Symmetry Energy Constraints from GW170817 and
Laboratory Experiments, M.B. Tsang, P. Danielewicz, W.G.
Lynch, and C.Y. Tsang, Phys. Lett. B 795, 533 (2019)
Insights on Skyrme parameters from GW170817, C.Y. Tsang,
M.B. Tsang, P. Danielewicz, W.G. Lynch, F.J. Fattoyev, Phys.
Lett. B 796, 10 (2019)
Constraints on the symmetry energy and neutron skins
from experiments and theory, M.B. Tsang et al., Phys. Rev.
C 86, 015803 (2012)
In a series of experiments at FRIB, we measured the isotope
yields from the collisions of different tin isotopes, 112 Sn+ 112 Sn
(light tin systems), 124 Sn+ 124 Sn (heavy tin systems with more
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Jie Wei
Professor of Physics, FRIB Accelerator Systems
Division Director
Keywords: Particle Accelerator, Linac, Beam Dynamics Superconducting RF
Cavity, Rare Isotope Beam
Accelerator Physics & Engineering
About
• BS, Physics, Tsinghua University, China, 1983
• PhD, Physics, Stony Brook University, 1989
• Joined the laboratory in August 2010
• wei@frib.msu.edu
Research
I started my career pursuing a PhD in accelerator
physics at State University of New York at Stony Brook.
My research topics were performance limiting beamdynamics
mechanisms with the Relativistic Heavy Ion
Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory
(BNL). During the next 35 years, my research has been on
accelerator physics and engineering pertaining to frontier
accelerator facilities including RHIC at BNL, the U.S. part
of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the Spallation
Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in
collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos,
Thomas Jefferson, Brookhaven, and Argonne National
Laboratories, the China Spallation Neutron Source project,
the Compact Pulsed Hadron Source in China, and now
FRIB. The accelerator profession is so uniquely rewarding
in that a physical idea can be turned into reality through
the execution of a construction project. Throughout its
completion one experiences endless learning in physics,
technology, teamwork, and creating friendships.
I serve as the FRIB Accelerator Systems Division
Director responsible for the design, R&D, construction,
commissioning, and operations of the accelerator
complex. My team includes accelerator faculties and staff
of subject-matter experts, many from major national
laboratories and institutes worldwide. The accelerators
at FRIB are among the most powerful and technically
demanding hadron accelerators in the world. The design
and development of the FRIB driver accelerator requires
the most advanced knowledge in accelerator physics
and engineering involving beam dynamics with electroncyclotron-resonance
(ECR) ion sources, radio-frequency
quadrupole (RFQ) linac, superconducting RF linac; space
charge and beam halo; charge stripping mechanisms
based on solid film, liquid-metal film, and gases; highpower
targetry; mechanisms of beam loss, collimation,
and collection; mechanisms of vibration, microphonics,
and compensation; and mechanisms of gas dissorption,
electron cloud, and mitigations; and rare-isotope beams.
My scientific research involves accelerator physics of highenergy
colliders and high-intensity hadron accelerators;
beam cooling and crystallization; development of
spallation neutron sources; development of compact
pulsed hadron sources; development of hadron therapy
facilities; development of accelerator driven sub-critical
reactor programs for thorium energy utilization and nuclear
waste transmutation; and development of accelerators
for rare-isotope beams. Our team covers accelerator
research and engineering fields of superconducting
material and technology; low-temperature cryogenics;
permanent and electromagnetic magnets and power
supplies; radio-frequency vacuum; beam diagnostics
instrumentation and electronics; accelerator controls and
machine protection; and beam collimation and shielding.
Design, R&D, construction, commissioning, and upgrade
of the FRIB accelerator complex involve fascinating
and challenging works across multiple disciplines at
Michigan State University and in collaboration with major
accelerator institutes and laboratories in United States
and throughout the world.
Selected Publications
Advances J. Wei et al., “Advances of the FRIB project,”
International Journal of Modern Physics E, 28, 1930003-
1-18 (2019)
Particle accelerator development: selected examples, J.
Wei, Modern Physics Letters A, 31, 1630010-1-13 (2016)
Synchrotrons and accumulators for high- intensity proton
beams, J. Wei, Reviews of Modern Physics, 75, 1383 (2003)
FRIB tunnel housing world’s highest energy, continuouswave
hadron linear accelerator.
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Christopher Wrede
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Nuclear Astrophysics, Thermonuclear Reaction Rates, Fundamental
Symmetries, Beta Decay
Experimental Nuclear Physics
About
• MSc, Physics, Simon Fraser University, 2003
• MS, M. Phil., Physics, Yale University, 2006
• PhD, Physics, Yale University, 2008
• Joined the laboratory in August 2011
• wrede@frib.msu.edu
Research
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
Students in our group have opportunities to propose,
prepare, execute, analyze, and interpret nuclear-physics
experiments at FRIB and other laboratories, to publish
the results in leading scientific journals, and to present
the results at national and international conferences. Our
alumni have advanced to positions in national laboratories,
academic institutions, and industry.
Our research focuses on studying nuclei experimentally
to probe fundamental questions about our Universe.
For example, we measure nuclear reactions, decays, and
masses in the laboratory to learn about the reactions
that power exploding stars or affect their synthesis of
chemical elements. In the near future, our program at
FRIB will be focused on measuring the beta and electroncapture
decays of proton-rich nuclides using the GADGET
and PXCT detection systems. With these experiments, we
hope to constrain the nuclear-structure details that are
most influential on photodisintegration in supernovae
and the explosive burning of hydrogen and helium on the
surfaces of accreting compact stars such as white dwarfs
and neutron stars. Similar experiments can allow us to
test hypotheses that could explain the origins of dark
matter in the universe or to better constrain the effects
of isospin-symmetry breaking in nuclei on tests of the
unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix, a
cornerstone of the Standard Model.
Biography
I was born in Vancouver, Canada, to Finnish parents,
and began my research career in experimental nuclear
astrophysics at Canada’s TRIUMF laboratory. In 2008,
I obtained a PhD in Physics from Yale University based
on work at the Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory
in the same research field. From there, I moved to
a postdoctoral Research Associate position at the
University of Washington’s Center for Experimental
Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics. Since 2011, I have been
leading a research group at NSCL and FRIB with a primary
interest in nuclear astrophysics and secondary interests in
fundamental symmetries and nuclear structure.
The Gaseous Detector with Germanium Tagging
(GADGET) prior to an FRIB experiment to determine the
isotopic ratios expected in microscopic grains of stardust.
Selected Publications
Low-energy
23
Al B-delayed proton decay and
22
Na
destruction in novae, M. Friedman et al., Phys. Rev. C 101,
052802(R) (2020)
GADGET: a Gaseous Detector with Germanium Tagging, M.
Friedman et al., Nucl. Instrum Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A
940, 93 (2019)
Doppler Broadening in 20 Mg (B, p, y) 19 Ne Decay, B. E.
Glassman, D. Perez-Loureiro, C. Wrede et al., Phys. Rev. C
99, 065801 (2019)
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Yoshishige Yamazaki
Professor of Physics, FRIB Accelerator Systems
Division Deputy Director
Keywords: RF Technology, RF Cavity, Beam Instability, High Beam Power
Accelerator Physics
About
• BE, Applied Physics, University of Tokyo, 1969
• ME, Applied Physics, University of Tokyo, 1971
• PhD, Physics, University of Tokyo, 1974
• Joined the laboratory in November 2011
• yamazaki@frib.msu.edu
Research
Particle accelerators, which were at first invented
and developed mainly for studying atomic nuclei and
fundamental particles, are nowadays applied to a wide
variety of fields, including materials science, life science,
cancer therapy, and so forth. Future possible applications
may include the transmutation of nuclear waste, which
arises from nuclear energy plants. In other words, the
development of particle accelerator technology is
required not only for studying fundamental particle
physics and nuclear physics, but also for other sciences
and industrial technology.
In order to build a world-class particle accelerator, we have
to make use of a wide variety of state-of-art technologies.
Not only that, in many cases, we have to newly invent and
develop some key components, which are themselves
applied to other industrial use. In other words, not only
accelerators themselves, but also technologies developed
for accelerators contribute a lot to the progress in science
and technology.
Here, the key word is “world-class.” The linear accelerator
in the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is truly a
world-class accelerator. Many species of heavy ions up
to uranium are accelerated to 400-MeV/u, generating a
beam power of 400 kW (the world-highest uranium beam
power). With that amount of power, many rare isotopes
will be discovered and studied, opening up a new era for
nuclear physics, astrophysics and others.
For that purpose, superconducting cavities are entirely
used to accelerate the beams from a very front end. The
FRIB accelerator, thus innovative, presents many chances
for new inventions and developments.
I developed, built, and commissioned the RF cavity
systems of KEK-PF (Photon Factory, world-highest power
synchrotron radiation source, when built) and TRISTAN
(world-highest energy electron/positron ring collider,
when built) and the RF system of KEKB (B Factory, worldhighest
luminosity electron/positron ring collider). Before
joining FRIB, I was an accelerator team leader for J-PARC,
which generates a world-highest pulse power of neutrons,
muons, Kaons and neutrinos. I measured the threshold
currents of the coupled-bunch instabilities for the first
time and cured the instability for KEK-PF, developed
the on-axis coupled accelerating structure for rings for
TRISTAN, invented the ARES cavity, for KEKB, invented
π-mode stabilizing loops for J-PARC RFQ, and developed
the annular-ring coupled structure (ACS) for J-PARC
linac. As can be seen from above, I have covered both the
beam instability study and the RF technology.
The technology/engineering is nothing but applied
science. In other words, deep understanding of physics is
really necessary for accelerator physics. On the other hand,
accelerator development is a good playground to enjoy
physics. I would like to invite many graduate students to
enjoy physics by developing, building and commissioning
the FRIB accelerator. Here are many chances for invention
and innovation, and I can guide you for those.
Selected Publications
Investigation of the Possibility of L-band SRF Cavities
for Medium-Beta Heavy Ion Multi-Charge-State Beams.
S. Shanab, K. Saito, and Y. Yamazaki, Nucl. Instr. Meth., A
956, 162883 (2020).
Beam Physics and Technical Challenges of FRIB Driver
Linac, Y. Yamazaki et al., Proc. IPAC2016, 2039 (2016).
First High-Power Model of the Annular-Ring Coupled
Structure for Use in the Japan Proton Accelerator
Research Complex Linac, H. Ao and Y. Yamazaki, Phys.
Rev. ST-AB 15, 011001 (2012).
Annular-Ring Coupled Structure for 400 MeV upgrade
of J-PARC linac developed together with Moscow Meson
Factory (MMF), Institute for Nuclear Research (INR).
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Remco Zegers
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Nuclear Astrophysics and Structure, Spectrometers, Weak Reaction
Rates in Explosive Stellar Phenomena
Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics
About
• MS, Technical Physics, State University of Groningen,
1995
• PhD, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, State
University of Groningen, 1999
• Joined the laboratory in February 2003
• zegers@frib.msu.edu
Research
What makes a star explode and eject its material into
space to create planets like earth? What is the mass of
the neutrino? And what forces govern the properties
of nuclei? Although these questions are very diverse,
the research group that I lead uses a common tool to
investigate all: charge-exchange reactions. In a nuclear
reaction, a projectile nucleus collides with a target
nucleus. In a charge-exchange reaction, they exchange a
proton for a neutron. The strong nuclear force governs
these reactions. But the underlying physics tells us about
reactions induced by the weak nuclear force. These include
electron capture and beta decay, which are important in
astrophysical phenomena. We are especially interested
in supernovae and processes that create elements in the
universe. Another category of processes that we study
are those that involve neutrinos. Such processes also
have astrophysical applications. In addition, they help us
better understand how these strange particles interact
with matter.
Biography
I was born and stayed in the Netherlands until I finished my
PhD in 1999 at the University of Groningen. My master’s
degree was in Technical Physics, with a focus on materials
science. I switched to experimental nuclear science and
performed my thesis work on charge-exchange reactions
and giant resonances at the dutch Kernfysisch Versneller
Instituut, but it also included analysis of data from an
experiment at the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility.
After graduation, I went to Japan and worked as a postdoc
at the SPring-8 facility (focusing on the photoproduction
of kaons) and the Research Center for Nuclear Physics
(focusing on nuclear charge-exchange reactions). In 2003,
I joined NSCL and founded the charge-exchange research
group. We do a wide variety of experiments, and play
a leading role in the development of charge-exchange
reactions with rare isotope beams, for example, by using
the (p,n) and (d,2He) reactions in inverse kinematics. The
primary focus is presently on astrophysical applications.
Besides this research, I also led the planning for the highrigidity
spectrometer for FRIB and currently serve as that
project’s scientific spokesperson.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
Students in my research group are active in the preparation,
running, and interpretation of experiments performed at
FRIB/NSCL or the Research Center for Nuclear Physics
in Japan. In addition, we build detector systems for these
experiments, such as the low-energy neutron detector
array. Although we work closely with theorists and
astrophysicists, we do a lot of the calculation ourselves,
and students can be strongly engaged with these aspects
as well. Therefore, research projects can be adapted to
meet the interests of students in the group, and students
can gain expertise in a broad range of topics, especially
since we also work closely with other group at FRIB
and beyond who have developed detector systems that
we use in experiments. With the development of tools
to study charge-exchange reactions with rare-isotope
beams, we are very excited to study these reactions far
from stability at FRIB.
Selected Publications
Experimental Constraint on Stellar Electron-Capture Rates
from the 88Sr(t,3He+γ)88Rb reaction at 115 MeV/u, J. C.
Zamora et al., Phys. Rev. C 100, 032801(R) (2019).
Observation of the Isovector Giant Monopole Resonance
via the Si-28 (Be-10, B-10* [1.74 MeV]) Reaction at 100
AMeV – M. Scott et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 172501 (2017)
The Sensitivity of Core-Collapse Supernovae to nuclear
Electron Capture – C. Sullivan et al., The Astrophysical
Journal, 816, 44 (2015).
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Vladimir Zelevinsky
Professor of Physics
Keywords: Many-body Quantum Theory, Applications to Nuclei, Quantum
Chaos, Weak Interactions, Fundamental Symmetries
Theoretical Nuclear Physics
About
• MS, Physics, Moscow University, 1960
• PhD, Physics, Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics
Novosibirsk, 1964
• Joined the laboratory in August 1992
• 2-volume textbook “Quantum Physics” was
published by “Wiley” in 2011
• Textbook “Physics of Atomic Nuclei” (together with
Alexander Volya) was published by “Wiley” in 2017
• zelevinsky@frib.msu.edu
Research
A complex nucleus is a great example of mesoscopic
systems, in between microscopic and macroscopic
worlds, with wealth of problems typical for both. This is
a complicated life of many strongly interacting particles,
with its average structure, vibrations and rotations,
collective waves, superconducting pairing, fundamental
symmetries and their violations, complicated decays and
reactions. The interactions bring in chaotic motion and
thermalization with no external heat bath. Apart from
obvious technological and medical applications, we are
now on the way to quantum informatics where nuclear
analogs are very useful.
How Students can Contribute as Part
of my Research Team
There are very promising directions of future research:
collective motion in weakly-bound nuclei, alpha
correlations along with normal pairing, quantum chaos,
symmetries and their violation, and nuclear reactions as
prototype for quantum-information processes.
Selected Publications
Nuclear level density, thermalization, chaos and collectivity.
V. Zelevinsky and M. Horoi, Progress in Particle and Nuclear
Physics 105, 180 (2019).
Quantum chaos and thermalization in isolated systems of
interacting particles. F. Borgonovi, F.M. Izrailev, L.F. Santos,
and V.Zelevinsky. Physics Reports 626, 1 (2016)
Super-radiant dynamics, doorways, and resonances in nuclei
and other open mesoscopic systems, N. Auerbach and V.
Zelevinsky, Rep. Prog. Phys. 74, 106301 (2011)
Biography
I received my high education at Moscow State University,
then post-graduate at Kurchatov Center of Nuclear Physics
(Moscow) and at the Budker Institute (Novosibirsk) where
I remained for many years, becoming Head of the Theory
Division and Head of Theoretical Physics at Novosibirsk
State University. I moved to Michigan State University in
1992. You can read more about mu life and career path in
this recent article. My research interests are in many-body
quantum physics.
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Useful Links
FRIB
frib.msu.edu
The Graduate School at
MSU
grad.msu.edu
National Science
Foundation
nsf.gov
U.S. Department of
Energy Office of Science
energy.gov/science
Statistical Research
Center, American
Institute of Physics
aip.org/statistics
Department of Chemistry
at MSU
chemistry.msu.edu
Department of Physics &
Astronomy at MSU
pa.msu.edu
College of Engineering at
MSU
egr.msu.edu
MSU General Admissions
Information
admissions.msu.edu
Joint Institute for Nuclear
Astrophysics (JINA-CEE)
jinaweb.org
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How to Apply
Now that you’ve read about our laboratory, focus areas, programs, and researchers, we
hope you want to join us! Apply today through one of the colleges listed below.
Physics and Astronomy
Deadlines
December 15, 2021
• Deadline to be considered for a
university fellowship
• Please make sure that your
references upload their letters by
this date
January 1, 2022
• Deadline for all applications
• Please make sure that your
references upload their letters as
soon as possible, but certainly
prior to January 1 st
Application Information
Remco Zegers, Associate Chair
and Director of Graduate Studies
zegers@msu.edu
517-908-7473
Chemistry
Anna Osborn, Graduate secretary
chemistryadmissions@chemistry.
msu.edu
517-353-1092
More information and
deadlines here:
pa.msu.edu/academics/graduateprogram/prospective-grad-students/
chemistry.msu.edu/graduateprogram/prospectivestudents/howto-apply/
Engineering
Linda Clifford, Graduate secretary
for Electrical and Computer
Engineering, cliffo42@egr.msu.edu
Stacy Hollon, Graduate secretary for
Mechanical Engineering,
hollonst@egr.msu.edu
More information and
deadlines here:
egr.msu.edu/graduate/contacts
For procedural questions
about applying
Kim Crosslan, Graduate secretary
crosslan@pa.msu.edu
517-884-5531
QUESTIONS? CONTACT
FRIB EDUCATION
Heiko Hergert,
Associate Director for Education,
gradschool@frib.msu.edu
Tabitha Pinckney,
Educational Program Coordinator,
pinckney@frib.msu.edu
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