Multi-MeV ion beams enable studying the nuclear reaction rates of light nulei, particularly tritium reactions, with applications to inertial confinement fusion and fundamental nuclear structure related to stellar, big-bang, and heavy-element nucleosynthesis.
LDNP proposed two flagship experiments:
Tritium-induced nucleosynthesis (LDNP1)
Neutron-Neutron Scattering (LDNP2)
The NSF OPAL RI-1 project includes LDNP1 as a flagship experiment and LDNP2 as a future flagship experiment.
Science Mission
Create extreme nuclear conditions using powerful lasers to understand how elements are formed, which could lead to new ways of producing rare or valuable materials.
Explore fundamental particle physics using intense laser-generated gamma rays to reveal new insights about the basic building blocks of matter, potentially revolutionizing our understanding of physics.
Develop new research tools to study matter under extreme conditions and create new ways to image and analyze materials.
Laser-Acceleration of Tritons to Study Reactions Between Light Nuclei
The image above shows the origin of the primordial elements: H, He, Li, and Be during big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). Given the high abundances of tritium in the early Big Bang environment the strength of the subsequent 7Li(t,γ)10Be and 7Li(t,n)9Be reactions need to be investigated as possible solution of the Lithium problem.
Powerful short-pulse laser facilities provide a unique opportunity to study fundamental nuclear physics that is not accessible otherwise. Laser-ion acceleration mechanisms enable the generation of multi-MeV ion beams with miniaturized targets, which is especially attractive for the creation of radioactive triton beams. This technique can be adapted to nuclear science experimentation, and has generated world-wide interest by the basic and applied nuclear science communities.
The powerful laser systems OMEGA and OMEGA-EP operating at the University of Rochester (UR), and ultimately NSF OPAL will play an important part in the development of a laser-accelerated triton beam platform with the goal of measuring cross sections of tritium-induced reactions at low energies. Very few measurements of these reactions have hitherto been made at any energy, even though tritium-induced reactions occur in all DT plasma thermonuclear fusion research, are critical for an understanding of both stellar and big-bang nucleosynthesis, and, as the lightest nucleus with two neutrons, can serve as a testbed for models of nuclear interactions and structure.
