This spring has been very eventful. A highlight was the special Award Ceremony on June 6 at Berkeley Lab for the 2023 Enrico Fermi Presidential Award winners Darleane C. Hoffman and Gabor Somorjai. We were able to celebrate this event and a number of scientific highlights on the newly established NSD Twitter account (@LBNLNuclearSci).
This issue provides insights on why coherent photonuclear interactions in ultra-peripheral collisions (UPCs) at ALICE and STAR provide physics opportunities while also presenting a puzzle for our theoretical understanding of coherent and incoherent photoproduction. This issue also provides updates on several exciting technical developments spearheaded by NSD that are coming to fruition. The development of high intensity titanium ion beams at the 88-Inch Cyclotron is advancing in preparation for forthcoming experiments to produce superheavy elements at the Berkeley Gas-Filled Separator (BGS). The LEGEND-200 neutrinoless double beta decay detector is starting its data taking phase at Gran Sasso, Italy. LBNL has produced the signal readout electronics which are showing superb performance. Finally, the sPHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) has started its commissioning phase. The most inner part of sPHENIX is the MVTX vertex tracking detector which was assembled at LBNL and will enable the precision measurements of heavy quark production to study the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP).
These are just a few examples of the broad spectrum of exciting science and advanced technological developments led by NSD. These developments utilize LBNL’s unique expertise and infrastructure platforms. Another example in this context is GRETA, the Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking Array, which went through a successful Independent Project Review by the DOE Office of Project Assessment and is making significant progress as the review team could see during its tour (see photo).
The division was also strongly engaged in June’s Pride Month activities from the Lambda Alliance Flag raising on June 1 to the San Francisco Pride Parade, taking on critical roles such as staffing the Berkeley Lab booth, driving and being on the lab’s truck with science experiments, and being part of the lab’s parade contingent. It was great to see such a great engagement by everyone.
Finally, this issue also reports on the recent 2023 arXiv Accessibility Forum that addressed the access needs of people with disabilities in using the arXiv preprint server.
Sincerely,
