The Rare Isotope Accelerator
The Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA) will be the world's most powerful research
facility dedicated to producing and exploring new rare isotopes
that are not found naturally on Earth. It will help answer some
of the fundamental questions of modern astrophysics and nuclear
physics:
- What are the origins of the elements - oxygen, carbon,
nitrogen, iron and the other building blocks of the universe and everything in
it?
- What are the laws governing nuclear matter? The elements differ
in the numbers of protons and neutrons that make up their nuclei.
- How do stars evolve, and how does their evolution affect the
evolution of galaxies and planets?
- How much "ordinary" matter is there in the universe, and what
is the rest made of?
A DOE Priority
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has placed RIA in a third place tie among
28 projects it listed as necessary to keep the United States at the forefront
in scientific research. RIA's technology is well understood and its scientific
potential well recognized and, of the top ranked projects, it is the one most
ready to begin construction.
The DOE's Office of Nuclear Physics plans to build RIA during the next decade
at a site yet that has to be determined. Argonne is among a number
of scientific organizations preparing proposals to design, build
and operate RIA. |
