On November 4, TRIUMF joined French research organization CNRS to sign a partnership agreement to create the NPAT (‘Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Astrophysics and Accelerator Technologies’) international research laboratory, to be opening at TRIUMF on January 1, 2025.
The new laboratory will bring together the Canadian and French nuclear physics communities around two key themes: research on exotic nuclei to explore the mechanisms of nucleus cohesion, and research into nuclear astrophysics, which links extreme astrophysical objects such as neutron stars with the behaviour of nuclear matter. The laboratory's field of investigation will also cover research and development on ion accelerators, the machines that underpin the synthesis of exotic nuclei.
(image: TRIUMF Executive Director and CEO Nigel Smith, left, and Alain Schuhl, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Science CNRS, with delegations at the signing ceremony at TRIUMF)
The new NPAT lab will draw on existing facilities at GANIL (a CNRS nuclear physics facility) and TRIUMF, which have long been dedicated to the study of exotic nuclei, to facilitate the construction and operation of innovative new instruments. More precisely, NPAT will exploit the synergies between the ISOL (Isotope separation online) facilities in both institutions.
These tools, which include ISOLDE at CERN and SPIRAL1 at GANIL, make it possible to carry out precision manipulations such as mass spectrometry and laser spectroscopy, which will be the main focus of the DESIR facility currently under construction at GANIL. By joining forces with TRIUMF, North America's leading ISOL facility, the DESIR project will be able to benefit from exchanges with a similar infrastructure that has a proven track record in low-energy nuclear physics.
(image: Representatives from TRIUMF and CNRS on a tour)
NPAT will also facilitate advances in nuclear physics by informing the construction and operation of innovative instruments such as DESIR and the ARIEL photofission facility currently being built at TRIUMF, as well as promoting the development of innovative ion accelerators and associated techniques.
According to David Lunney, researcher at CNRS and future Director of NPAT, “These partnerships enable us to exchange good processes and know-how to achieve our research and development objectives. This is a valuable resource for both our engineers and our physicists”.
“This new initiative builds on decades of successful collaboration between TRIUMF and its international partners in France and around the globe,” said Nigel Smith, Executive Director and CEO of TRIUMF. “TRIUMF is home to world-leading isotope separation on-line infrastructure, and synergises a broad network of expertise and strong support from our national academic network and member universities. We look forward to continuing to build strong ties and explore research and innovation with our colleagues at CRNS.”