2019 FRIB News
17 December 2019
On 17 December, FRIB hosted approximately 130 members of the Michigan State University Retirees Association . FRIB Laboratory Director Thomas Glasmacher gave a presentation about FRIB to the group. Following...
12 December 2019
FRIB site-restoration work is complete and both MSU-funded building additions will be complete this month. The 14,000-square-foot Cryogenic Assembly Building and site-restoration work around FRIB are complete. The Cryogenic Assembly...
29 November 2019
In October, FRIB staff installed all 24 cryomodules (CMs) in the linear accelerator’s (linac) second segment (LS2). All of the LS2 cryomodules were cooled to 2 kelvin (K) in November...
19 November 2019
Update (3/18/20): In light of the evolving COVID-19 situation, the International Conference on Women in Physics has been postponed to 2021. The conference’s local organizing committee is looking to reschedule...
19 November 2019
Three members of the FRIB user community earned the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for 2019. The members are: Matthew Dietrich, Argonne National Laboratory, (nominated by...
18 November 2019
The DOE-SC Office of Project Assessment (OPA) held its independent project review of FRIB 13-15 November. The main focus of the review was to assess overall FRIB Project progress since...
18 November 2019
The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC) has awarded three FRIB projects Accelerator Stewardship Awards . Thirteen awards were provided on a competitive basis to projects that seek...
07 November 2019
The National Science Foundation ( NSF ) awarded a $2 million grant to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics - Center for the Evolution of the Elements ( JINA-CEE )...
31 October 2019
In October, FRIB staff completed installation of the linear accelerator’s (linac) first folding segment (FS1). The first folding segment connects the first and second linac segments. The installation work involved...
24 October 2019
Nearly 500 people attended a live-science art show on 19 October featuring YouTube science communicator “Physics Girl” Dianna Cowern . The crowd included grade-school students, teachers, parents, college students, professors...
21 October 2019
Five members of the FRIB user community were named 2019 American Physical Society (APS) Fellows: Daniel Bazin, Mahananda Dasgupta, Jutta Escher, Rituparna Kanungo, and Sofia Quaglioni. Fellows are selected by...
08 October 2019
FRIB continues to make progress construction and site-restoration work. The 14,000-square-foot Cryogenic Assembly Building is now substantially complete. Work continues on the 31,000-square-foot High Rigidity Spectrometer and Isotope Harvesting Vault...
08 October 2019
The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at MSU is hosting Dr. Charles Limb for a special talk titled “Musical creativity and the brain” as part of its Advanced Studies...
04 October 2019
The Technical Systems Advisory Committee (TSAC) held a review of FRIB 1-3 October 2019. The main focus of the review was to assess overall FRIB Project development since the last...
02 October 2019
Kit Chapman, author of Superheavy: Making and Breaking the Periodic Table , will give a seminar at the FRIB Laboratory on 9 October. Chapman is a science journalist and broadcaster...
30 September 2019
In September, FRIB staff energized the first half-wave-resonator (HWR) cryomodule (β=0.29) in the FRIB linear accelerator (linac) tunnel. Coaxial radio-frequency (RF) power couplers energize the cryomodules. HWR cryomodules make up...
27 September 2019
In September, FRIB’s electron-beam diagnostics system measured the thickness of the liquid-lithium film in the charge stripper for the first time at MSU. An electron beam traverses the lithium film...
26 September 2019
Researchers from the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University (MSU) and TRIUMF (Canada’s national particle accelerator) have observed a rare nuclear decay. Namely, the team measured low-kinetic-energy...
20 September 2019
Update (3/12/20): In light of the evolving COVID-19 situation, FRIB is postponing the in-person part of the FRIB First Experiments: Proposal Preparation Workshop until fall 2020. Online presentations are scheduled...
11 September 2019
FRIB’s target module is ready for installation. FRIB staff achieved this project milestone on 11 September. A target assembly contains the target module and its rotating graphite target, known as...
30 August 2019
In August, FRIB staff successfully tested the radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) above the full design input power of 100 kilowatts (kW) in continuous-wave operation. This is the electric power needed to...
30 August 2019
FRIB hosted a two-week FRIB Theory Alliance (FRIB-TA) Topical Program titled “Hadronic electric dipole moments in the FRIB era: From the proton to protactinium” from 12-23 August. The program, organized...
26 August 2019
From 27 July to 3 August, FRIB and the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) hosted a pilot program titled “Physicists Inspiring the Next Generation (PING): Exploring the Nuclear Matter.” Four...
26 August 2019
The 2019 Low Energy Community Meeting (LECM) was held 7-9 August at Duke University, hosted by the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory. More than 170 members of the low-energy nuclear physics...
22 August 2019
Congressional staff members from Michigan’s U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives offices visited FRIB on 22 August. During their FRIB visit, FRIB Laboratory Director Thomas Glasmacher presented an update...
16 August 2019
Impression 5 Science Center in Lansing opened an interactive science exhibit on 16 August that is inspired by the positive, life-changing nuclear science research happening now at MSU’s National Superconducting...
12 August 2019
FRIB will be the world’s premier rare-isotope beam facility. It will make the majority (about 80 percent) of the isotopes predicted to be bound available for experiments. These isotopes will...
05 August 2019
Venkatarao (Rao) Ganni, director of the MSU Cryogenic Initiative , professor of accelerator physics, and adjunct professor of mechanical engineering at Michigan State University (MSU), received the Samuel C. Collins...
20 July 2019
The University of York recently presented Witek Nazarewicz, Hannah Distinguished Professor of Physics and chief scientist at FRIB, with an honorary degree. Nazarewicz was one of fifteen honorees at the...
24 June 2019
FRIB hosted the second Training in Advanced Low Energy Nuclear Theory (TALENT) Course 6 from 3-21 June. Talent Course 6 investigates the theory for exploring nuclear reaction experiments. This is...
20 June 2019
FRIB is registered under the ISO 45001 occupational health and safety standard after the successful external audit of FRIB’s Environment, Safety and Health Management System (ESHMS). The ISO 45001 standard...
03 June 2019
After the successful 10-day-long unattended continuous operation of the liquid-lithium charge stripper, FRIB staff installed an electron-gun (E-gun) system into the stripper module. FRIB is the first accelerator to use...
24 May 2019
FRIB hosted the 2019 FRIB Theory Alliance (FRIB-TA) Summer School on machine learning in physics applications. The school, held from 20-23 May, was titled “Machine learning applied to nuclear physics.”...
22 May 2019
The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) hosted the 2019 Nuclear Science Summer School (NS 3 ) from 12-18 May. This is the fourth year for the annual educational event. NS...
20 May 2019
The Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics - Center for the Evolution of the Elements (JINA-CEE) hosted The First Frontiers Summer School 15-18 May, at Michigan State University. The school is...
17 May 2019
The DOE-SC Office of Project Assessment (OPA) held a review of FRIB 14-16 May. The main focus of the review was to assess overall FRIB Project progress since the last...
15 May 2019
State Representative Julie Brixie and Legislative Director Nick Plescia from State Senator Rick Outman’s office visited FRIB today with MSU Associate Vice President for State Relations David Bertram. FRIB Laboratory...
09 May 2019
On 9 May, WJR radio (760 AM) broadcast the Paul W. Smith Show from FRIB. The visit was part of the program’s Pure Michigan Tour . FRIB Laboratory Director Thomas...
01 May 2019
FRIB hosted a number of summer schools to allow students and early-career scientists the opportunity to explore the world of science. NS3 Nuclear Science Summer School 12-18 May 2019 Michigan...
30 April 2019
In 2016, FRIB and NSCL initiated the FRIB Visiting Scholar Program for Experimental Science. The goal of the program is to encourage and help junior researchers to establish a research...
19 April 2019
The Technical Systems Advisory Committee (TSAC) held its first review of FRIB 16-18 April 2019. The focus of the review was to evaluate the readiness of FRIB systems for operations...
05 April 2019
In March 2019, FRIB became the world’s highest-energy continuous-wave hadron linear accelerator (linac) when an argon beam was accelerated in the first third of the linac up to 20.3 electron-volts...
05 April 2019
Why does the observable universe contain virtually no antimatter? Particles of antimatter have the same mass but opposite electrical charge of their matter counterparts. Very small amounts of antimatter can...
03 April 2019
FRIB has achieved an important milestone by accelerating beams of neon, argon, krypton, and xenon through fifteen cryomodules. The beams were accelerated to an energy above 20 million electron-volts per...
02 April 2019
On 2 April, FRIB hosted U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Senior Advisor Kurt Heckman and Special Assistant Troy Hall. While at FRIB, Heckman and Hall met with FRIB...
31 March 2019
In March, FRIB successfully circulated liquid lithium in its charge stripper for more than seven days, relying only on remote monitoring. FRIB is the first accelerator in the world to...
29 March 2019
A number of summer schools are planned for 2019 to allow students and young researchers the opportunity to explore the world of science. NS 3 Nuclear Science Summer School 12-18...
29 March 2019
In March, the FRIB staff cooled the first of four superconducting dipole magnets for folding segment 2 (FS2D3) to 4 kelvin (K) in three days. Staff then successfully energized the...
19 March 2019
In March, FRIB staff successfully cooled down the facility’s cryogenic distribution system, making it operational. The cryodistribution system along the second segment of FRIB’s linear accelerator was cooled to 4...
28 February 2019
In February, FRIB placed the twelfth and final β=0.29 cryomodule in the linear accelerator tunnel. This marks the completion of an important part of the FRIB Project. The first β=0.29...
14 February 2019
A collaboration between the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) and the Department of Statistics and Probability (STT) at Michigan State University (MSU) estimated the boundaries of nuclear existence by...
11 February 2019
One of the most fundamental properties of the nucleus is its size. The nuclear radius generally increases with the number of proton and neutron constituents. However, when examined closely, the...
23 January 2019
During the last decade, six new superheavy elements were added the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements. Recently, the United Nations proclaimed 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table...
18 January 2019
Filomena Nunes, managing director for the FRIB Theory Alliance and professor of physics, will receive the William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award from Michigan State University (MSU) on 5 February...
18 January 2019
A new FRIB video shows the facility’s highlights and accomplishments that took place throughout 2018. The full articles shown in the video can be found at the following links: All...
14 January 2019
The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at MSU is hosting four speakers for the first season of FRIB Saturday Morning Physics , a new part of the Advanced Studies...
11 January 2019
In December 2018, the FRIB cryogenic plant cooled fifteen cryomodules along its first linear accelerator (linac) segment to 2 kelvin (K) (-271 degrees Celsius). FRIB is the first superconducting heavy-ion...
04 January 2019
In December 2018, FRIB completed testing of its thermal-imaging system for the primary beam. The system will monitor the heat signature of the area where the beam hits the target...
02 January 2019
The Engineering News-Record (ENR) Midwest recognized the FRIB Project in the Higher Education/Research category of its 2018 Best Projects award program. FRIB was awarded second place regionally, earning the Award...
02 January 2019
FRIB successfully placed concrete for the foundation slab of the High Rigidity Spectrometer (HRS) and Isotope Harvesting Vault. The 31,000-square-foot building is one of two MSU-funded additions under construction at...