SECAR
The Separator for Capture Reactions (SECAR) will be a recoil separator at FRIB that is optimized for measurements of low-energy capture reactions of importance for nuclear astrophysics. It will initially be installed at the NSCL ReA3 facility, which will transition into the FRIB low-energy hall. Measurements with SECAR will focus on reactions needed to improve our understanding of novae and X-ray bursts.
SECAR is the flag ship experiment for the FRIB nuclear astrophysics community, and has been reaffirmed frequently as this community's highest priority on numerous occasions including:
* At the FRIB Users Meeting, held at ANL on May 30-31, 2009,
the nuclear astrophysics working group summarizes
its findings: ''The highest equipment priority for the
FRIB nuclear astrophysics program is a dedicated nuclear
astrophysics recoil separator.''
The meeting summary
can be found here.
* At the FRIB Equipment Workshop, held at MSU on February 20-23, 2010,
the nuclear astrophysics equipment working group
again summarized that ''SECAR is the highest priority of the
FRIB astro users group'' in the summary presentation.
The summary talk can be found here.
* The importance of SECAR is reflected in the broad-based
collaboration that currently includes nuclear astrophysics
groups from Argonne National Lab, Colorado School of Mines,
Louisiana State University, Michigan State University,
University of Notre Dame, and Oak Ridge National Lab.
* The 2007 NSAC Long Range Plan, a community document, states:
''The experimental determination of stellar reaction rates
on unstable nuclei that play a critical role in novae and X-ray
bursts has just begun with a few pioneering measurements
that in most cases provide only indirect information.
A huge step forward will be the development of
reaccelerated rare isotope beams produced by fragmentation
and gas stopping at FRIB.'' Addressing this important
science requires SECAR.
SECAR has received several positive evaluations by expert committees and agencies incuding:
*
The FRIB Science Advisory Committee in its report
from March 10, 2010
lists SECAR in the top group of experiments in terms of
readiness to move forward. The report also states
''The recoil separator SECAR is essential to exploit the
astrophysical opportunities offered by FRIB'', and
''Timely completion will allow SECAR to be used at NSCL
before FRIB becomes operational''.
The full report can be accessed online here.
* The NSCL Program Advisory Committee PAC33 accepted the
SECAR Letter of Intent [LOI] for early
implementation of SECAR at ReA3. The report says
''[The committee] concurred that a recoil separator for
(p,gamma) and (alpha,gamma) studies is important for the
future program and planning for it is a must. The resulting
science was viewed with high priority. We are looking forward
to future proposals …''
* A proposal to DOE under
FOA DE-PS02-08ER08-10 (Research Opportunities at Rare Isotope
Beam Facilities, November 2008) was selected for support (pending availability
of funds).
Collaboration
The SECAR collaboration currently includes nuclear astrophysics groups from Argonne National Lab, Colorado School of Mines, Louisiana State University, McMaster University, Michigan State University, University of Notre Dame, and Oak Ridge National Lab. If you are interested in working in the SECAR collaboration, please contact Hendrik Schatz, schatz at nscl.msu.edu.Status & History
The SECAR proposal was submitted to DOE in November 2008 and approved for funding in December 2009. Design studies are now underway, check here in the future for details.FRIB Questionnaire
The document prepared on SECAR for the FRIB Equipment Workshop in February 2010 can be viewed here.Meetings
SECAR Meeting in February 2010:The FRIB Astrophysics Collaboration met during the FRIB Equipment Workshop at MSU on February 20-23, 2010, and reaffirmed SECAR being its highest priority project. SECAR received highest marks from the FRIB Science Advisory Committee [SAC] confirming the projects scientific importance and its readiness to move forward. The full FRIB SAC report can be accessed online here.
SECAR Meeting - January 29 - 30, 2010:
The SECAR collaborators met on the campus of Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan on Saturday, January 30, 2010. At this meeting, we discussed: system requirements, benchmark reactions, current design status, canonical and alternative designs, project management plans, and preparations for the upcoming FRIB Equipment Workshop in February 2010.
Presentations
"Design of a New Recoil Separator for Measurements of Radiative Capture Reactions in Astrophysics", SECAR poster abstract, OMEG10 Symposium, March 2010"SECAR", Manoel Couder, May 2009 FRIB workshop
"Recoil Separators for Capture Reaction Measurements", Michael Smith, May 2009 FRIB workshop
"Recoil Separator", Manoel Couder, August 2008 MSU workshop
"Recoil Separators & Approaches for Low Energy Nuclear Astrophysics Measurements", Michael Smith, August 2008 MSU workshop
Poster on SECAR, May 2009 RNB8 Symposium
"Gas Target Systems", Uwe Greife, May 2009 FRIB workshop
"ANASEN", Jeff Blackmon, May 2009 FRIB workshop
Collaborators' Pages
Please click here to access the password-protected pages for the SECAR collaborators.If you are interested in working in the SECAR collaboration, please contact Hendrik Schatz, schatz at nscl.msu.edu.
