Physics Division progress report for period ending September 30, 1990

Abstract

The activities of this Division continue to be concentrated in the areas of experimental nuclear physics, experimental atomic physics, and theoretical nuclear and atomic physics. The Holifield Heavy Ion Research Facility and its operation as a national user facility continued as the single largest activity within the Division. The experimental nuclear physics program continues to emphasize heavy ion studies, with much of the activity centered at the Holifield Facility. The work with heavy ions at ultrarelativistic energies continues at the CERN SPS. Studies at the Brookhaven AGS, particularly in preparation of future experiments at RHIC, have seen an increased emphasis. A major consortium has been formed to propose the design and construction of a dimuon detector as the basis for one the principal experiments for RHIC. Also included are results from the increasing effort in particle physics, including participation in the L* proposal for the SSC. The UNISOR program, since its inception, has been associated intimately with the Division and, most particularly, with the Holifield Facility. A major area of experimental research for the Division is atomic physics. This activity comprises two groups: one on accelerator-based atomic physics, centered primarily at the EN-tandem and the Holifield Facility, but extending thismore » year to an experiment at ultrarelativistic energies at the CERN SPS; and one on atomic physics in support of fusion energy, based primarily at the ECR ion source facility. Included in this section is also a description of a new effort in multicharged ion-surface interactions, and details of a planned upgrade of the ECR source.« less