The University of Notre Dame hosted more than 230 experts at the 2016 Low Energy Community Meeting on Aug. 11-13 in the Jordan Hall of Science. The annual gathering, which started in 2011, sets priorities for research that help guide the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation while providing opportunities for education and networking among researchers from universities and national laboratories. The event comes as the community prepares for the opening of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University, the highly-anticipated “FRIB Era.”

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The University of Notre Dame has a long legacy of excellence in nuclear physics research, beginning in 1937 with its first successful experiments accelerating particles. Since then, Notre Dame has continued to invest in nuclear physics, building a preeminent nuclear physics laboratory on campus, while also contributing to research projects and resources, such as the CASPAR project in South Dakota, FRIB at Michigan State University, and CARIBU at Argonne National Laboratory.

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Professor Rebecca Surman has been elected as a new member of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) Theory Alliance Executive Board.

The FRIB Theory Alliance is a coalition of scientists from universities and national laboratories who seek to foster advancements in theory related to diverse areas of FRIB science; optimize the coupling between theory and experiment; and rejuvenate the field by creating permanent theory positions across the country.…

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From January to early June the seven Compton suppressed germanium clover detectors were at the Nuclear Science Lab, where they were utilized for a variety of experiments. During this campaign the detectors were used for four different experiments at various locations in a multitude of configurations that made the most of each setup.

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The summing detector, HECTOR, has seen its first proton beam during the week of May 9th.

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The Department of Physics was proud to celebrate the achievements of many doctoral degree recipients at the graduate commencement ceremony held Saturday, May 14. Graduates from August, January, and May are all recognized at the May event. We wish them each the best of luck.

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Prof. Anna Simon has been selected to receive one of thirty-five Ralph E. Power Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards from ORAU (Oak Ridge Associated Universities). The award is intended to enrich the research and professional growth of young faculty and result in new funding opportunities.…

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The Ph.D. thesis of James Matta has been selected for publication as a book by the well-known science publisher Springer under the “Springer Theses” series.

Described as the “best of the best”, the series recognizes “Outstanding Ph. D. Research”. Each thesis is chosen for its scientific excellence and impact on research. For greater accessibility to non-specialists, the published versions include an extended introduction, as well as a foreword by the student’s supervisor explaining the special relevance of the work for the field.…

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Copernicus. Galileo. Hubble. For ages, humans have looked up at the night sky to ponder the secrets of the universe. The flickering stars have been the stuff of fascination and research for millennia, from men and women who mostly turned their gaze ever upward to study the vastness of space. Yet today, a group of University of Notre Dame astrophysicists is going down — way down — in a new attempt to gain an understanding of the evolution of stars.

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Paul R. Chagnon, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Notre Dame, died March 22 at his home in South Bend. He was 86. Chagnon taught physics and conducted research in nuclear physics at Notre Dame for 32 years before retiring in 1995. He published numerous articles on his research, and was admired as a stalwart of Notre Dame’s physics faculty. His teaching is honored annually at Notre Dame’s commencement ceremonies by the undergraduate Paul Chagnon Service Award.

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The power to lead is the power to transform. Notre Dame is proud to celebrate women whose scholarship and leadership are leaving an indelible imprint on the global community.

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Freimann Professor Ani Aprahamian and Professor Stephan Frauendorf…

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Prof. Jim Kolata has always had an appreciation for the many ways in which the subfields of physics intersect, nowhere more so than in the field of cosmology. Though an experimental nuclear physicist and a long-time leader in Notre Dame’s radioactive beam program, Kolata developed in 1989 a course in elementary cosmology aimed at curious students wanting to understand the current developments in that rapidly advancing field. That course is today a stalwart of the Notre Dame Physics Department’s curriculum, taught to nearly 200 students a year. Kolata has now brought together his notes and insights from teaching that course, combined with the latest news from the field, and published a textbook on the subject. Entitled "Elementary Cosmology: From Aristotle’s Universe to the Big Bang and Beyond” and published by the Institute of Physics, the book begins with an introduction to the concept of the scientific method. It then describes the way in which detailed observations of the Universe, first with the naked eye and later with increasingly complex modern instruments, ultimately led to the development of the “Big Bang” theory. Finally, the book traces the evolution of the Big Bang including the very recent observation that the expansion of the Universe is itself accelerating with time.…

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Gwyneth Cravens, an American author and journalist who is best known for her writings on nuclear power as a safe and reliable alternative energy source and as an essential preventive of global warming, will present a lecture titled “Can We Save the World with Nuclear Energy?" at 4 p.m. Tuesday (Oct 6) at Washington Hall Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.

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Prof. Dan Bardayan, Department of Physics, has been elected to the User Organization Executive Committee for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University. The goals of the Users’ Organization are to work towards the realization and timely construction of FRIB, to act as an advocate for the needs of the FRIB user community, to articulate and promote the scientific case for rare-isotope science, and to advocate for rare isotope science in the USA.…

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Prof. Ani Aprahamian, Freimann Professor of Physics, has been reappointed as a Board Member by Governor Dennis Daugaard to the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority. The reappointment is through December 2018. She has served on the board since 2009.

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Maxime Brodeur, the Ortenzio Family Assistant Professor in Applied Medical and Nuclear Physics, conducts basic research in nuclear physics that holds promising potential for medical applications.

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Jay LaVerne, professional specialist in the University of Notre Dame’s Radiation Laboratory and a concurrent research professor of physics, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in honor of his efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.

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The 2nd Notre Dame-Europe Symposium on Nuclear Science and Society (SNSS15) was held at the Notre Dame Rome Center during November 4-6, 2015. Website The first in this series of symposia, organized by the Nuclear Physics Group at the University of Notre Dame, was held at the Notre Dame London Center in October, 2014 (http://isnap.nd.edu/events/NSS2014/).

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