The first Program Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting for FRIB concluded on August 13, 2021. Eighty-two experiment proposals had been submitted to PAC1 of FRIB for evaluation of their scientific merit and feasibility. The MoNA Collaboration, working together with other researchers outside the collaboration, submitted three proposals, two of which were approved for beam time by the PAC! This is a very good outcome for the collaboration, since the proposal selection is highly competitive.
The two approved proposals are:
21016 | C. Hoffman | First observation of neutron-unbound 30F |
21066 | T. Baumann | Neutron-Unbound Excited States in 53,55Ca (approved with limited beam time to investigate 53Ca) |
These two experiments will push the invariant mass measurements of the collaboration to heavier systems. While the measurement of 30F will determine the ground-state characteristics of this unbound nucleus, the investigation of the neutron-rich 53Ca focuses on neutron-unbound excited states, which will help to pin down theoretical calculations that possibly can shed light onto the location of the neutron drip line for calcium. Only about 30% of the requested beam time could be approved, due to the high demand for FRIB.
By the numbers, the PAC-recommended experiments following peer review represent (compared to the request):
34 (out of 82 requested) experiments
3,108 hours (out of 9,784 hours) beam-on-target hours
4,122 facility-use hours
401 (out of 597) individuals
25 (out of 30) countries represented
24 U.S. states
88 institutions
15 out of 17 National Academies benchmarks for FRIB
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