Scientific Reach
Today, scientists lack the tools necessary to explore the terra incognita of rare isotopes that long ago decayed in our solar system and hence do not normally exist on Earth. Yet thousands of these isotopes are continually created and play a fleeting though important role in the cosmos.
The evolution of stars from birth to often cataclysmic death is intertwined with the nuclear reactions that occur inside stars and are responsible for the formation of many elements. The resulting elemental abundances influenced the processes that formed our solar system and ultimately led to life on Earth. Inadequate knowledge of important nuclear properties limits understanding of these important astrophysical processes, which today is rudimentary, at best.
The ISF will advance ongoing efforts to create and study many short-lived nuclei in the laboratory. Because they are far from the valley of stability, such nuclei challenge theories developed to explain properties of nuclei near the line of stability. Additionally, nuclei are an example of mesoscopic systems such as atomic clusters or quantum dots that are important in other fields of physics today.
The ISF also will help interpret data on novae, supernovae and X-ray bursters captured by ground and space-based; test fundamental symmetries and the Standard Model of particle physics; forge important cross-disciplinary links to research communities working on biomedicine, stockpile stewardship and transmutation of nuclear waste; and train the next generation of nuclear scientists.
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Operation of NSCL as a national user facility is supported by the Experimental Nuclear Physics Program of the U.S. National Science Foundation.