Department of Energy Announces $11.24 Million for Research on Nuclear Theory Topical Collaborations

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $11.24 million for five topical theory collaborations in nuclear physics (NP). These projects bring together leading nuclear theorists to collaboratively focus on solving challenging problems central to advancing knowledge in nuclear physics.  

The projects selected will each significantly advance the knowledge of nuclear matter and microscopic processes involving the basic ingredients of matter. Collectively they span topics like the 3-dimensional internal structure of nucleons, the exotic states of quarks and gluons, the microscopic properties of quark-gluon plasma and neutrino and nuclear interactions. The new insights from these projects will inform predictions that will underpin the theoretical interpretation of data taken at multiple facilities across the national laboratory network, including the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF), the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS), and the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC).

“Advances in nuclear physics provide important new insights into the nature of our world as well as novel applications in the areas of national security, energy, health, and space exploration,” said Timothy Hallman, Associate Director of Science for Nuclear Physics. “Developing rigorous theoretical frameworks to underpin such advances enables new predictions of nuclear phenomena and a foundation for understanding how knowledge gained can be used to benefit society, such as exploring more clean energy options and new applications in nuclear medicine and industry.”

The five project teams are highly collaborative groups of theorists with a lead institution for each project. Four of the lead institutions are universities and one is a national laboratory. In total, there are 58 collaborating institutions on the five projects. Four projects are fully funded by the Office of Nuclear Physics and one is jointly funded by the Office of High Energy Physics and the Office of Nuclear Physics. The projects were selected via competitive peer review under the DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement for “Topical Collaborations in Nuclear Theory.” 

The total funding for the five projects is $11.24 million for a performance period lasting five years, with $2.23 million in Fiscal Year 2023 and out-year funding contingent on congressional appropriations. A list of projects can be found here.