1. Slide 1 F R I B Introduction to NSCL and the research done here - Nuclear Physics Molecules, Atoms, and Atomic Nuclei The science of Isotopes –What are isotopes? –How do we make isotopes, make new elements, etc.? –Strange examples: Halo Nuclei –Isotopes in Astronomy Introduction to NSCL and The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB)

2. Slide 2 F R I B Molecules Molecules – the smallest unit of any substance consisting of more than one atom Examples: Methane, Octane, d-Glucose Molecules can be created or modified by chemical reactions

3. Slide 3 F R I B Companies make and market molecules http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/chemistry/chemical-synthesis/chemical-synthesis-catalog.html

4. Slide 4 F R I B Some of what you can buy…

5. Slide 5 F R I B Details… Product Catalog > Chemical Synthesis > Building Blocks > Organic Building Blocks > Alkanes > Acyclic

6. Slide 6 F R I B Atoms The Methane molecule is made of one carbon and four hydrogen atoms Atoms are made of electrons and a nucleus with protons and neutrons (mostly) Chemistry – atoms are unchangeable (mostly – in fact this is what we do) The number of protons in the atomic nucleus (atomic number) determines the chemical element

7. Slide 7 F R I B Periodic Table of the Elements

8. Slide 8 F R I B Atomic Nuclei A representation of an Oxygen Atomic Nucleus http://www.scri.fsu.edu 6 fm (0.000000000000006 m) If this nucleus was the size of a basketball the atom would stretch to Detroit.

9. Slide 9 F R I B Atoms of elements come in several forms: Isotopes Isotopes of Beryllium Neutron number The sum of neutron and proton numbers is called the mass number (often written as A)

10. Slide 10 F R I B Nuclear Science Wall Chart – Resource for Classes http://www.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/index.html

11. Slide 11 F R I B Back to Nuclei: Truth in advertizing – Neutrons and protons are not fundamental particles Neutrons and protons are made of quarks (mostly) http://www.scri.fsu.edu 6 fm This picture is also too simplistic

12. Slide 12 F R I B Multiple choice Which of the following statements is most correct concerning where oxygen atoms come from? –They are mostly human made from when coal is burned –They are made in natural chemical reactions –They were made in the Big Bang –They are made in the cores of stars like the Sun –They are made when stars explode We can ask a similar question about all the elements. For example, where do gold atoms come from?

13. Slide 13 F R I B What is a rare isotope? Normal Nucleus: 6 neutrons 6 protons (carbon) 12 C Stable, found in nature Exotic Nucleus: 16 neutrons 6 protons (carbon) 22 C Radioactive, at the limit of nuclear binding Characteristics of exotic nuclei: Excess of neutrons or protons, short half-life, neutron or proton dominated surface, low binding Rare isotopes have unusual nuclei (exotic)

14. Slide 14 F R I B How do we make rare isotopes? Lithium-7 3 protons, 4 neutrons Suppose we want to study Lithium-11 3 protons, 8 neutrons

15. Slide 15 F R I B Creation of new isotopes 11-Lithium 18-Oxygen Collision A 18-Oxygen nucleus is accelerated to a velocity of about 100,000 miles per second.

16. Slide 16 F R I B Production of rare isotopes Nucleus Factory Produced by W. Benenson and W.R. Richards

17. Slide 17 F R I B In-Flight Production of Rare Isotopes Example: NSCL’s CCF Example: 86 Kr → 78 Ni K500 K1200 A1900 production target ion sources coupling line stripping foil wedge focal plane  p/p = 5% 86 Kr 14+, 12 MeV/u 86 Kr 34+, 140 MeV/u

18. Slide 18 F R I B FRIB Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

19. Slide 19 F R I B FRIB Linear Accelerator details Tunnel Floor ~40 ft below grade Grade (ground) level

20. Slide 20 F R I B Production and Separation of Isotopes – The Rap Version Rare Isotope Rap (full version is 5 minutes) by Kate McAlpine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=677ZmPEFIXE Kate also did the LHC Rap Short version

21. Slide 21 F R I B How a Fragment Separator Works – Rare Isotope Rap http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=677ZmPEFIXE Kate McAlpine, CERN

22. Slide 22 F R I B Schedule for FRIB Completion 2010 – Approval of the conceptual design, start of preliminary design 2011 – Approval to start final design 2013 – Final design approved, start of construction 2018 – Project is complete

23. Slide 23 F R I B The Chart of the Isotopes Isotope Number of Neutrons Number of Protons How many neutrons can a nucleus hold? How many protons can a nucleus hold? Predicted limits of stability

24. Slide 24 F R I B Isotope Chart – Chart of Nuclides Yellow – synthesized for experiments Green – possible range of undiscovered isotopes

25. Slide 25 F R I B Some Isotopes are very “Exotic” - Halo Nuclei

26. Slide 26 F R I B Element 112 Copernicium, Cn Officially named in 2009 “The idea was to go backwards, to honor someone who was not greatly honored in his lifetime.” – Sigurd Hofmann Hofmann wanted to highlight the contribution of nuclear chemistry to other fields, astrophysics in particular. Element was first produced at GSI in 1996 by fusion of zinc and lead. Zeitschrift für Physik A 354, 229-230 (1996)

27. Slide 27 F R I B Detailed View of Superheavy Element Region PhysicsWorld.com Atomic Number Neutron Number Produced at DUBNA by 48-calcium + target

28. Slide 28 F R I B What are the limits of atomic number? We don’t know. Atomic numbers greater than 300 are possible. These nuclei are refereed to as hyperheavy nuclei (as opposed to superheavy nuclei from around 102 to 124) The repulsion of the protons in the nucleus will likely lead to unusual shapes How will we make them? We don’t know, but with better nuclear models we will better understand the likelihood of their existence. Toroidal Nuclei Bubble Nuclei (hollow inside) Nue neverforum

29. Slide 29 F R I B History of Element Discovery Democritus – idea of atoms Babylonia Egypt Copper Age 1700+ Rise of modern chemistry – Dalton’s Atomic Theory

30. Slide 30 F R I B The history of element discovery 1200- 2000 Time of the Alchemists Chemistry Dalton’s Atomic Theory Cavendish, Priestly, Scheele, … Mendeleev’s Periodic Table Particle Accelerators

31. Slide 31 F R I B What are the future possibilities? We do not know. So far we have “discovered” 118 elements. (The last six have not been officially sanctioned.) This is one of the questions we can address at FRIB with an advanced capability to produce new neutron-rich isotopes –Better nuclear models to understand what the limits are –Production of more neutron-rich heavier nuclei FRIB is a modern equivalent to the Philosopher’s Stone (no religious or mystical connotation intended) 50 Years form now (maybe not likely but dreaming)… FRIB

32. Slide 32 F R I B Where Are Atoms Made? The Challenge We would like to understand where the atoms are made. This is part of a larger problem to understand the chemical history of the Universe To do this we need to –Model elemental synthesis by stars and galactic processes –Model the development and evolution of galaxies –Produce and study the isotopes (and their reactions) that are important for this modeling (this is the main part we use our accelerators to do)

33. Slide 33 F R I B Making atoms - Stellar evolution of massive stars Stars with more than 8 times the mass of our Sun develop multiple burning layers Hydrogen to helium Helium to carbon Carbon to oxygen, neon, magnesium Oxygen to neon Neon to magnesium Magnesium to Silicon Silicon to Iron Iron is the most bound nucleus and has no exothermic nuclear reactions

34. Slide 34 F R I B Forefront of Observational Astronomy: High Resolution Telescopes The measurement of elemental abundances is at the forefront of astronomy using large telescopes Large mirrors enable high resolution spectroscopic studies in a short time (Hubble, LBT, Keck, …) Surveys have provided large data sets (SDSS, LAMOS, SkyMap, HERMES, LSST, Gaia, …) Future missions: JWST - “is specifically designed for discovering and understanding the formation of the first stars and galaxies, measuring the geometry of the Universe and the distribution of dark matter, investigating the evolution of galaxies and the production of elements by stars, and the process of star and planet formation.” Hubble Space Large Binocular Telescope

35. Slide 35 F R I B Where do atoms come from? A hint from stellar spectra Stellar absorption spectra Not all stellar absorption spectra of the same surface temperature are identical T=4800 K; elements like our sunT=4700 K; only 1/10,000 heavy elements Intensity (relative) old star“young” star

36. Slide 36 F R I B About Half of Heavier Elements must be made in an r-Process Nuclear physics shapes the characteristic final abundance pattern for a given r-process model (Click on image to start animation)

37. Slide 37 F R I B 37