INSTYTUT PROBLEMÓW JĄDROWYCH im. Andrzeja Sołtana The Andrzej Sołtan INSTITUTE FOR NUCLEAR STUDIES ANNUAL REPORT 2008 PL-05-400 OTWOCK-ŚWIERK, POLAND tel.: 048 22 718 05 83 fax: 048 22 779 34 81 e-mail: [email protected] http://www.ipj.gov.pl Editors: N. Keeley J. Skalski Secretarial work and layout: A. Odziemczyk On the front cover, clockwise from the top: • Cameras of the “Pi of the Sky” project at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile • Straw drift tubes for LHCb detector, CERN, constructed by the IPJ team • Plasma discharge in the IBIS device • Jet Counter for simulations of nanometric targets Printed by Stanisław Fuksiewicz Usługi Wydawniczo-Poligraficzne ISSN 1232-5309 Annual Report 2008 3 CONTENTS FOREWORD..............................................................................................................................5 I. GENERAL INFORMATION..............................................................................................7 1. LOCATIONS ..............................................................................................................7 2. MANAGEMENT OF THE INSTITUTE....................................................................7 3. SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL.............................................................................................8 4. DEPARTMENTS OF THE INSTITUTE....................................................................9 5. MAIN RESEARCH ACTIVITIES............................................................................10 6. SCIENTIFIC STAFF OF THE INSITUTE...............................................................12 7. VISITING SCIENTISTS...........................................................................................14 8. GRANTS ...................................................................................................................15 9. PARTICIPATION IN NATIONAL CONSORTIA AND SCIENTIFIC NETWORKS.............................................................................................................18 10. DEGREES .................................................................................................................19 11. EDUCATION AND OUTREACH ...........................................................................20 II. DEPARTMENTS OF INSTITUTE ...................................................................................23 1. DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR REACTIONS.......................................................23 2. DEPARTMENT OF INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICS.....29 3. DEPARTMENT OF DETECTORS AND NUCLEAR ELECTRONICS ................35 5. DEPARTMENT OF PLASMA PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY .........................41 6. DEPARTMENT OF HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS ....................................................47 7. DEPARTMENT OF COSMIC RAY PHYSICS.......................................................55 8. DEPARTMENT OF THEORETICAL PHYSICS ....................................................61 9. DEPARTMENT OF MATERIAL STUDIES ...........................................................69 10. DEPARTMENT OF ACCELERATOR PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY.............73 11. LABORATORY OF ASTROPHYSICAL APPARATUS........................................77 12. DEPARTMENT OF TRAINING AND CONSULTING..........................................81 13. DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR EQUIPMENT “HIGH TECHNOLOGY CENTER – HITEC”...................................................................................................................83 III. REPORTS ON RESEARCH..............................................................................................85 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMIC RAYS & ELEMENTARY PARTICLE PHYSICS.................... 87 NUCLEAR PHYSICS.............................................................................................................. 107 PLASMA PHYSICS & TECHNOLOGY................................................................................ 127 DETECTORS, ACCELERATORS, PHYSICS OF MATERIALS & APPLICATIONS........ 141 IV. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS..............................................................................................167 V. AUTHORS INDEX..........................................................................................................181 4 Annual Report 2008 Annual Report 2008 5 FOREWORD In 2008 IPJ strengthened its position in basic research and opened a new chapter in applied studies. Scientific output exceeded 250 publications, including 232 in reviewed international journals from the ISI Master Journal List. The Hirsch index, taking into account the number of citations in the years 2000-2008, reached about 40, which gives us the seventh place among Polish research units, after two institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences: Institute of Nuclear Physics and Institute of Physics, Faculties of Physics and Chemistry of Warsaw and Jagiellonian Universities and Warsaw Medical University. The H-index cannot be used as the only measure of the quality of scientific output, as it depends on the size of the institute. However, it gives a good feeling of the “scientific strength”. This output has been created by a staff of 405 people, including 130 researchers. Our most spectacular achievement in 2008 was the early optical observation of a gamma-ray burst GRB080319B. The detector “Pi of the Sky” built in collaboration with several other institutes from Warsaw1 recorded a “movie” of the phenomenon which probably leads to the creation of a black hole. It was the most powerful cosmic explosion ever registered, as it occurred 7 bln light years from the Earth and could be seen by the naked eye. Combining the data with gamma ray measurements by the “Swift” satellite gave a new insight into the mechanism of GRBs, as presented in a paper published in “Nature”. Two other important results were obtained in nuclear physics. In both cases our theorists explained phenomena observed by experimental groups with IPJ participation. A group in GSI Darmstadt measured electron capture dependence on ionization. Prof. Zygmunt Patyk noticed that the results can be explained by invoking angular momentum conservation. A group in GANIL Caen studied neutron halo structure in 6He by neutron transfer reactions in the 6He+65Cu system. Dr. Nicholas Keeley provided an interpretation of the data. IPJ also participated in the most important scientific event of 2008, the startup of the LHC accelerator at CERN. Unfortunately, the breakdown of the machine ruled out the possibility of obtaining interesting results. However, the event as such attracted a lot of attention and gave us a chance to present the beauty and importance of elementary particle physics to a wide audience. Active participation in the top-tech endeavor of the LHC remains in high contrast with the day-to- day problems caused by the old technical infrastructure of the nuclear center in Świerk. The lack of adequate funding makes an upgrade impossible. Power and water supply suffer from frequent breakdowns and only the strong motivation and high qualifications of the technical staff keeps the center in regular operation. 1 Center of Theoretical Physics PAS, University of Warsaw, Warsaw University of Technology, Space Research Center PAS 6 Annual Report 2008 Hope for change comes with EU funds available for Poland in 2007-2013. Indeed, we have already obtained the first success. The project “Development of accelerator and detector systems for medicine and security” has 79 mln PLN (~18 mln €) for 5 years which doubles the budget of the institute. It brings a breakthrough in the applied studies conducted by IPJ, but also in the way the institute is managed. Introducing project-driven management is the challenge for 2009. It should result in a boost towards modern and dynamic ways of doing science. This should be followed by new projects funded from EU programs, including the most ambitious one, which is the free electron laser POLFEL. As a part of a distributed infrastructure EuroFEL it stands for the key element of the European scientific roadmap recommended by the ESFRI committee. In the case of positive decision on funding, the 400 m long accelerator producing 0.2 GW pulses of UV light will be the largest and the most modern research infrastructure in the new Europe. A powerful tool for physicists, chemists, biologists, medical researchers and materials engineers, it should bring scientific research in Poland to a new level. The year 2009 will tell us if this opportunity will be won or wasted. Grzegorz Wrochna Annual Report 2008 7 I. GENERAL INFORMATION The Institute is a state owned laboratory. It conducts pure and applied research in subatomic physics, i.e. elementary particle, astroparticle, plasma physics, low and high-energy nuclear physics, and related fields. The Institute specializes in accelerator physics and technology, materials research with nuclear techniques, the development of spectrometric techniques, nuclear electronics and also in applications of nuclear techniques to environmental research, nuclear medicine etc. In addition to the scientific departments, there is a separate production unit operating within the Institute - ZdAJ (the Department for Nuclear Equipment). This unit specializes in medical equipment, notably in the production of linear electron accelerators for oncology and in the production of linear accelerators for industry. 1. LOCATIONS Main site: Warsaw site: Łódź site: 30 km SE from Warsaw (departments P-I, P-VI, P-VIII) (department P-VII) Świerk, 69 Hoża street 5 Uniwersytecka street 05-400 Otwock 00-681 Warsaw 90-950 Łódź 2. MANAGEMENT OF