2021 FRIB In the News

More than a virus: Science’s areas to watch in 2022

, Science

FRIB is featured in a list of Science's areas to watch in 2022. The fleeting atomic nuclei normally forged only in stellar explosions will find a home on Earth after the $730 million FRIB fires up at Michigan State University. The world’s most powerful ion source, the linear accelerator can fire any nucleus—from hydrogen’s single proton to uranium atoms’ massive core—into targets to produce new, unstable nuclei.

The science events to watch for in 2022

, Nature

FRIB was featured in a list of themes set to shape research in 2022. The multi-stage accelerator aims to synthesize thousands of new isotopes of known elements, and it will investigate nuclear structure and the physics of neutron stars and supernova explosions.

The Quantum Rodeo

, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC) posted a highlight about the FRIB-affiliated Lee Research Group’s research paper titled “Rodeo Algorithm for Quantum Computing” published in Physical Review Letters. DOE-SC posts about 200 published research findings annually, selected by their respective program areas in DOE-SC as publication highlights of special note.

A case of missing mass solved

, Technology Networks

A team of researchers, including scientists from the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University, have solved the case of zirconium-80’s missing mass.

No need to decide

, Nature Physics

One of the most spectacular quantum effects in atomic nuclei is the emergence of a shell structure. Important questions such as the origin of an additional binding energy in nuclei, where neutrons and protons occupy the same shell orbitals, remain open. Now, as they describe in Nature Physics, FRIB's Alec Hamaker and colleagues have provided answers to this question by performing accurate mass measurements of zirconium isotopes.

Member of FRIB Users Organization named on Highly Cited Researchers 2021 List

, Clarivate

Achim Schwenk (Institute of Nuclear Physics at the Darmstadt University of Technology), a member of the FRIB Users Organization, has been named on the annual Highly Cited Researchers 2021 list from Clarivate. Clarivate is a scientific publication analytics firm. The list identifies researchers who demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. Their names are drawn from the publications that rank in the top 1 percent by citations for field and publication year in the “Web of Science” citation index.

A new particle accelerator aims to unlock secrets of bizarre atomic nuclei

, Science News

Researchers are queuing up to use a particle accelerator at Michigan State University to study some of the rarest atomic nuclei. When it opens in early 2022, the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams will strip electrons off of atoms to make ions, rev them up to high speeds and then send them crashing into a target to make the special nuclei that scientists want to study.

'Mirror nuclei' to probe fundamental physics of atoms and neutron stars

, ScienceDaily

About 20 years ago, a Michigan State University physicist had an idea to reveal insights about a fundamental but enigmatic force at work in some of the most extreme environments in the universe. These environments include an atom's nucleus and celestial bodies known as neutron stars, both of which are among the densest objects known to humanity.

Paul Guèye named 2022 Edward A. Bouchet Award winner

, Scienmag

The American Physical Society (APS) announced that it has selected FRIB’s Paul Guèye as the 2022 Edward A. Bouchet Award winner. APS recognized Guèye for his “many seminal experimental contributions to understanding the structure of nuclear particles and decades of service to physics outreach, diversity and inclusion.”

Rare isotopes aplenty at FRIB

, CERN Courier

The $730 million FRIB at MSU is scheduled to come online in early 2022 – a game-changer in every sense for the U.S. and international nuclear-physics communities. With peer review and approval of the first round of experimental proposals now complete, an initial cohort of scientists from 25 countries is making final preparations to exploit FRIB’s unique capabilities.

Rate of nuclear reaction in exploding stars

, Phys.org

New research by the University of Surrey's Nuclear Physics Group has shown that it's possible to mimic excited quantum states with exotic nuclei, opening up a host of opportunities for next generation radioactive beam facilities, such as the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams.

Glancing into a nuclear mirror: The fate of aluminum-26 in stars

, Newswise

Scientists explore the origin of aluminum-26 in stars with a nuclear reaction that exploits the fact that neutrons and protons are stunningly similar. Scientists from the University of Surrey and the FRIB Laboratory at MSU teamed up to explore the origin of aluminum-26.

Why are theorists excited about exotic nuclei?

, Physics Today

Filomena Nunes, managing director of the FRIB Theory Alliance, discusses how the limits of nuclear stability provide deep insights into the fundamental force responsible for the presence of matter. Exotic nuclei are created, if only for an instant. A major ambition of our generation is to understand where and how heavy matter forms. Exotic neutron-rich nuclei are an essential piece of that puzzle.

$13M project will harvest isotopes at Michigan State's FRIB

, Yahoo News

A $13 million project is aiming to harvest isotopes at Michigan State's Facility for Rare Isotope Beams.

The beams at the edge of physics

, Physics World

Creating a new cutting-edge accelerator isn’t cheap or easy. But the upcoming Facility for Rare Isotope Beams in Michigan promises great things for nuclear physicists, especially those with applications in mind.

Stable nickel-64 nuclei take three distinct shapes

, Newswise

Scientists have identified three distinct shapes in stable nickel-64, a stable isotope of nickel. This discovery increases the predictive power of such nuclear structure calculations for nuclei that can only be reached at next-generation rare-isotope facilities such as the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams.