Center for Nuclear Research
2000-2001 Annual Report
ACCOMPLISHMENTS of the
CENTER FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH (CNR)
for 2000-2001During the past year, the Center for Nuclear Research (CNR) continued to pursue the goals set forth in its charter in support of the academic activities of the nuclear physics program in the Physics Department. CNR members contributed to research in areas concerned with the most fundamental structure of matter. Some results reached the level of the national and international news media. A particular highlight is our significant accomplishment in the competitive arena of extramurally sponsored research. Our visiting scholars program strengthens the academic environment. The CNR coordinates and fosters national and international collaboration.
During the year ending June 30, 2001, CNR faculty, postdoctoral research associates and graduate students published 41 articles in journals and proceedings of scientific meetings, and delivered 16 invited talks at major conferences. The latter is an especially important and relevant indicator of the national and international impact of CNR research. Two Ph.D. students advised by CNR faculty graduated in AY 2000-2001. Total federal funding to the CNR for the past year was $924,780, a substantial increase compared to $782,780 in the previous year, an all-time record for the CNR.
Research at the CNR encompasses several sub-fields of basic nuclear and particle physics, with special emphasis on the quark substructure of nucleons and nuclei. Our work on electron-nucleus interactions addresses fundamental issues related to the spin structure of the nucleon. Prof. Makis Petratos played a leading role in the development of the experimental program that is driving the energy upgrade at Jefferson Lab (JLab). The experiments he proposed were deemed ``must do'', and one of them (the measurement of the up and down quark probability distributions in the proton) is put forward as one of the three experiments driving this $140M upgrade. Professors Bryon Anderson, John Watson and Mark Manley, are involved, with emeritus Professor Richard Madey as principal spokesperson, in another cutting-edge experiment to measure the charge form factor of the neutron at JLab.
In high-energy nuclear collisions, the search for the Quark Gluon Plasma is a major focus. A dedicated facility, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) started to produce data addressing this issue in Summer 2000, with the first results reported at the Quark Matter 2001 International Conference in January 2001. Prof. Spiros Margetis assumed a leadership position in one of the two major RHIC experiments (STAR, an international collaboration of 36 institutions and hundreds of scientists all over the world). Both Prof. Margetis and Prof. Declan Keane played key roles in the composition of the first papers on these early results, which have been published in the reporting period in Physical Review Letters, the premier journal of Physics worldwide. A new initiative at RHIC is the spin program, which will answer questions related to the spin structure of the nucleon by colliding polarized protons at high energies. STAR is expanding its capabilities to be well-equipped for such measurements. Profs. Anderson and Watson have recently joined a collaboration to develop the required instrumentation and to study the corresponding fundamental physics issues.
Prof. Declan Keane is spokesperson of E895, (another large collaboration, although modest in size compared to STAR), which has completed lower energy experiments at Brookhaven National Laboratory, at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) accelerator. This group published three papers in Physical Review Letters, plus two more articles in Physical Review C and in Physics Letters in AY 2000-2001.
Prof. Mark Manley is principal spokesperson of E953, an experiment that received scientific approval for running at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) this year. This experiment is one of three approved experiments involving the Crystal Ball Collaboration.
In the area of nuclear theory, Prof. Peter Tandy continued his hadron theory research particularly relevant to recent JLab experiments, while Prof. George Fai's research program in the area of perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics applied to nuclear collisions produced predictions and interpretations for RHIC experiments.
We consider the 18% increase in the CNR extramural funding from AY1999-2000 to AY 2000-2001 particularly significant. The major components of this increase are a new single-P.I. grant to Prof. Mark Manley from the Department of Energy (DOE), renewed support at a high level with a new focus on RHIC research to Profs. Bryon Anderson and John Watson from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and remarkably large increments in the level of funding to Prof. Spiros Margetis from the DOE and to Prof. Makis Petratos from the NSF. In addition, Prof. George Fai started an NSF-sponsored research collaboration between the U.S. and Hungary in AY 2000-2001. In the past ten years, the CNR has typically maintained one or two such bilateral international collaborations at any given time. It is a CNR objective to coordinate and foster such activities.
The CNR visitors program is an important vehicle strengthening the academic environment at Kent and increasing our visibility nationally and internationally. During the year ending June 30, 2001, 10 visitors from the U.S. and abroad spent time with us, ranging from a couple of days to a month in length, to work on joint projects. Six of these visitors gave formal CNR seminars at Kent. The visitors program plays a very direct role in nurturing national and international collaboration.
The participation of postdoctoral research associates in CNR research programs is supported mainly by grants, but there are important KSU cost-sharing contributions. Such appointments strengthen our research and graduate education capabilities in a national and international context.
Although the CNR's primary focus is on graduate education, we provide opportunities for undergraduate physics majors (and occasionally, non-majors) to gain research experience through Individual Investigations and Senior Honors Thesis projects. We have the capability to accommodate every undergraduate who requests a research project. During the past year, two CNR faculty were involved in physics education research related to teaching physics at the High School through University Sophomore level. A proposal has been submitted to NSF in the area of physics education (Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement program). Coupled to House Bill 640 funds obtained by the Department, this grant will provide (if funded) a major upgrade of our introductory undergraduate laboratories and teaching methods. There have been a number of instances of beneficial cross-fertilization between the scholarship of discovery and the scholarship of teaching. We expect such instances to increase in the future. In addition, the CNR organizes visits of students from local high schools to the Department of Physics.
As indicated by the above successes in fundamental research, the CNR has accomplished the goal, set a few years earlier, of substantial research presence at the two then-emerging major nuclear physics facilities, JLab and RHIC. We maintain and strengthen an excellent record of extramural funding. At the same time, the faculty members of the CNR discharge their regular duties in education, with attention paid to undergraduate education and outreach activities. These elements helped to achieve increased visibility of our program locally, nationally and internationally in the past year and in the long term.
