Perspectives of Croatian experimental nuclear physics Neven Soić Division of experimental physics Ruđer Bošković Institute NuPECC meeting 13. Jun 2008 Zagreb

Vision RBI: - multidisciplinary research institute dedicated to internationally relevant basic research in physics, chemistry, biology and related science - leading national research institution working in close collaboration with all other national institutions accomplishing synergy of national efforts in basic science and applications - integral part of ERA – international collaborations DEP: - experimental research in particle and nuclear physics and their inter-disciplinary applications including astrophysics - close collaboration with physics groups from national universities – Faculty of Science at Uni of Zagreb, Uni of Split, Uni of Rijeka

Objectives to increase quality of nuclear physics research performed in Croatia, both basic and applications to increase international reputation and impact in collaborative projects to acquire experimental equipment for research at international and local facilities to set up facilities for building and testing of novel research equipment to enlarge number of research (sub)projects and experiments led by Croatian researchers

Present status RBI + Uni of Zagreb + Uni of Split groups International collaborations - collaborations and experiments at CERN (CMS, ALICE, CAST, NA61, OPERA), GSI, KVI Groningen, MAMI Mainz, GANIL, INFN-LNL, INFN- LNS, UCL Louvain-la-Neuve, ISOLDE, IPN Orsay, IReS Strasbourg, ANU Canberra, Oak Ridge USA - main contribution in work power, knowledge and experience, no hardware contributions from Croatia - extensive usage of international access through FP6 projects EURONS and HADRON PHYSICS Local accelerator facility - strong application research in collaboration with researchers worldwide - some nuclear physics experiments in collaboration with European physicist (1 per 3 years) - educational activities: student practical works, diploma and PhD thesis

Recent activities many IAEA projects, one of DEP largest at Tandem 200 k - new sputter source at the Tandem accelerator FP6 INCO project RBI-AF: 216 k - upgrade and renewal of 6MV Tandem accelerator FP7 REGPOT project CLUNA: 370 k - upgrade of silicon detector array and scattering chamber, neutron detector array - partners: Uni of Birmingham, INFN-LNS, Uni of Zagreb FP7 Infrastructure project HADRON PHYSICS 2: - RBI partner in few work packages (WP23 FTOF etc) FP7 Infrastructure project ENSAR: - RBI partner in JRA08 EWIRA FP7 Infrastructure project SPIRIT: - RBI partner in JRA Improving Analysis and JRA Extending Analysis - FZD Dresden, CNRS, KUL Leuven, JSI Ljubljana, UBW München, CEA, Uni of Surrey, ITN Lisbon, UPMC Paris, ETH Zürich, RBI Zagreb Detector and electronics workshop at DEP: - FP7 REGPOT proposal WONDER (1 M), application for national funds for large equipment (130 k) – particle phy+ nuclear phy + application groups

Future actions Increased funding from international sources will lead up to increased national funding Increased impact in international collaborations : 1) existing collaborations: contribution in hardware development, more experiments and projects at European facilities as leaders 2) FAIR: involvement in CBM & NUSTAR, Croatia full partner ? 3) CERN: Croatia full partner ? Increased usage of local accelerator facility: 1) 2 nuclear physics experiments/year in collaborations 2) beam test facility for equipment for European large scale facilities 3) increased usage for education of students and young researchers Interdisciplinary research and applications: - further development of heavy ion beam techniques at local facility - AMS: 14 C, 10 Be etc.

Conclusion insufficient number of accelerator facilities for present needs in Europe provides opportunity for small facilities in East Europe (research, equipment development and testing, education) involvement in high-quality collaborative research at top accelerator facilities and quality of local resources provide required background for expansion of Croatian nuclear physics activities support and help from European nuclear physics community would be very appreciated and highly desirable