Projects

The Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless Double beta decay (LEGEND) will be the most sensitive search for the ultra-rare phenomena of neutrinoless double-beta decay. Such decays are beyond the “Standard Model” of particle physics, and would have implications for the balance of matter and antimatter in the Universe.

The Precision Oscillation and Reactor Spectrum Experiment (PROSPECT) is a reactor neutrino experiment operating at ORNL’s HFIR that will search for hypothetical “sterile” neutrinos that have implications for particle physics, cosmology, and reactor physics. Contact: Alfredo Galindo-Uribarri (uribarri@ornl.gov)

ORNL and UTK are leading an effort to combine a variety of nuclear spectroscopy detector systems into a Decay Station for frontier measurements of nuclei at the extremes of stability at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams.

https://fds.ornl.gov

The JENSA gas jet target system is an ultra-dense, pure. narrow jet of gas that, when bombarded by accelerated beams, enables measurements of thermonuclear reactions that drive exploding stars.

The Separator for Capture Reactions (SECAR) is a detector system under construction at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University that is optimized for direct measurements of thermonuclear reactions on unstable nuclei that cause some stars to explode.

The neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) experiment at the SNS will measure the electric dipole moment of the neutron - essentially the roundness of its charge distribution - to help distinguish between different theoretical explanations for the existence of matter in the universe.

https://nedm.ornl.gov/

The NUCLEI collaboration will be using some of the worlds most powerful supercomputers, including ORNL’s TITAN, to calculate properties and reactions of atomic nuclei.

The SciDAC Towards Exascale Astrophysics of Mergers and Supernovae (TEAMS) Collaboration is investigating supernovae explosions and neutron-star mergers that create atomic elements heavier than iron and predict such as gravitational waves from these events.

The GODDESS system will be used to measure reactions with neutron-rich unstable nuclei to understand the evolution of shell structure and neutron capture rates relevant for the r-process in neutron star mergers and in core-collapse supernovae.

The Nab project is an experiment at the SNS that will search for new physics beyond the Standard Model via a high-precision measurement of the "a" and "b" neutron decay parameters.