US Nuclear Data Program White Paper on Nuclear Data Needs and Capabilities for Basic Science Table of Contents List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ……………………………….. p. 3 Rationale ………………………………...………………………….. p. 4 Contributors ………………………………...………………………. p. 5 Executive Summary & Conclusions ……...………………………… p. 6 Participants ………………………………………………………….. p. 10 Program …………………………………..…………………………. p. 13 Workshop photograph ………………………………………………. p. 15 1. Nuclear Structure …………………………………………………. p. 16 2. Nuclear Reactions …………………………………………...……. p. 21 3. Nuclear Astrophysics …………………………………...………… p. 26 4. Nuclear Theory …………………………………………………… p. 29 5. Neutrino Science and Fundamental Symmetries …………………. p. 32 6. Dissemination …………………………………………………….. p. 36 Appendix 1: Historical Perspective …………………………………. p. 39 Appendix 2: Detailed Plan for Nuclear Astrophysics ………………. p. 43 Appendix 3: Nuclear Data Survey …………………………………... p. 48 2 List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ARUNA Association for Research at University Nuclear Accelerators ATLAS Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System CASPAR Compact Accelerator System for Performing Astrophysical Research CCF Coupled Cyclotron Facility, NSCL DANCE Detector for Advanced Neutron Capture Experiments, LANL EDM Electric Dipole Moment ENDF Evaluated Nuclear Data File ENSDF Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File EXFOR Experimental Nuclear Reaction Data FRIB Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, MSU G4LEND Geant4 Low Energy Nuclear Data software package for GEANT4 GEANT4 Geometry and Tracking, Monte-Carlo particle transport code, CERN GRETINA Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking In-beam Nuclear Array, LBNL IAEA-NDS International Atomic Energy Agency – Nuclear Data Section JINA Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics KADONIS Karlsruhe Astrophysical Database of Nucleosynthesis in Stars LANSCE Los Alamos Neutron Science Center LISE++ Ligne d’Ions Super-Epluchés (Fragment separator simulation code) NACRE European Compilation of Reactions Rates for Astrophysics NEA Nuclear Energy Agency NDNCA Workshop on Nuclear Data Needs and Capabilities for Applications NNDC National Nuclear Data Center, BNL NSCL National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, MSU NSDD Nuclear Structure and Decay Data Network, IAEA NSR Nuclear Science References PPAC Parallel Plate Avalanche Counter REACLIB Nuclear Reaction Rates Database, MSU SECAR Separator for Capture Reactions, MSU STARLIB Nuclear Physics Library for Astrophysical Research, UNC, Chapel Hill TAGS Total absorption γ-ray spectrometry TUNL Triangle University Nuclear Laboratory, Duke University USNDP United States Nuclear Data Program XUNDL Experimental Unevaluated Nuclear Data List 3 Rationale The DOE Office of Science/Nuclear Physics -funded U.S. Nuclear Data Program (USNDP) comprises nuclear data experts from national laboratories and academia across the United States who collect, evaluate, and disseminate nuclear physics data for basic nuclear physics and applied nuclear technology research. The nuclear data infrastructure provided by the USNDP impacts governmental, educational, commercial, and medical organizations in United States, as illustrated in Figure 1, and it is a part of the U.S. commitment to various international nuclear data networks and collaborations. Following on a recommendation by the USNDP Advisory Committee, a 1.5-day workshop entitled “Nuclear Data Needs and Capabilities for Basic Science” was organized on August 10-11, 2016 at the University of Notre Dame, in conjunction with the annual Low Energy Community Meeting. It followed the first workshop on “Nuclear Data Needs and Capabilities for Applications” (NDNCA) organized in May 2015 at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The purpose of this second targeted workshop was to assemble and prioritize the needs of the nuclear physics research community for data sets, services and capabilities in areas including Nuclear Structure, Nuclear Reactions, Nuclear Astrophysics, Fundamental Interactions, Neutrino Physics and Nuclear Theory. More than 95 participants from 33 different institutions attended the workshop. The program is available at http://meetings.nscl.msu.edu/2016ND_workshop/html/program. html, together with copies of the presentations. An overview of nuclear data needs and capabilities identified at this meeting are summarized in the present document. Specific recommendations that can be used by the DOE Office of Science/Nuclear Physics office to guide future nuclear data activities are given along with the topical areas that directly benefit the broader nuclear physics community. Figure 1: The core USNDP nuclear physics databases and products, and their main areas of impact for science and technology. 4 Contributors Editors Contributed speakers M. Almond (ORNL) J. Batchelder (UC Berkeley) L. Bernstein (LBNL) T. Kawano (LANL) M.P. Carpenter (ANL) J. Kelley (NCSU & TUNL) J. Clark (ANL) F.G. Kondev* (ANL) J. Greene (ANL) E. McCutchan (BNL) D.J. Hartley (USNA) M. Smith (ORNL) B. Kay (ANL) A. Sonzogni (BNL) T. Koi (SLAC) M. Thoennessen* (MSU) F.G. Kondev (ANL) I. Thompson (LLNL) H-Y. Lee (LANL) * Lead editors S. Liddick (MSU) E. Olsen (MSU) Overview speakers G. Perdikakis (CMU) B. Balantekin (UWM) M. Redshaw (MSU) A. Brown (MSU) A. Rogers (UML) R. Casten (Yale U) K. Rykaczewski (ORNL) A. Champagne (UNC) H. Schatz (MSU) H. Crawford (LBNL) M. Smith (ORNL) L. McCutchan (BNL) O. Tarasov (MSU) G. Savard (ANL/U Chicago) C-Y. Wu (LLNL) B. Sherrill (MSU) L. Sobotka (WUSL) Acknowledgments The work performed by staff from several laboratories was sponsored by the US DOE Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics under Contracts DE-AC02-06CH11357 (ANL), DE-AC02-98CH10886 (BNL), DE-AC02-05CB11231 (LBNL), DE-SC0016948 (MSU), DE-AC05-76OR00022 (ORNL), and DE-FG02-97ER41033 (TUNL). The work by staff from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory was sponsored by the US DOE NNSA under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and DE-AC52-06NA25396 respectively. The authors wish to thank Dr. P. Dimitriou (IAEA) for her contributions to the document. 5 Executive Summary & Conclusions Reliable nuclear structure and reaction data represent the fundamental building blocks of nuclear physics and astrophysics research, and are also of importance in many applications. There is a continuous demand for high-quality updates of the main nuclear physics databases via the prompt compilation and evaluation of the latest experimental and theoretical results. The nuclear physics research community benefits greatly from comprehensive, systematic and up-to-date reviews of the experimentally determined nuclear properties and observables, as well as from the ability to rapidly access these data in user-friendly forms. Such credible databases also act as a bridge between science, technology, and society by making the results of basic nuclear physics research available to a broad audience of users, and hence expand the societal utilization of nuclear science. Compilation and evaluation of nuclear data has deep roots in the history of nuclear science research, as outlined in Appendix 1. They have an enormous impact on many areas of science and applications, as illustrated in Figure 2 for the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) database. The first workshop on “Nuclear Data Needs and Capabilities for Applications” (NDNCA) presented a comprehensive overview of the nuclear data needs for applications and proposed a plan to coordinate a framework in line with the existing Nuclear Data High Priority List of the Nuclear Energy Agency [1] to assess such data needs. In response, an ad-hoc Nuclear Data Working group was formed which subsequently proposed a plan to address the most important data needs, as specified in the workshop white paper [2]. The NDNCA activities focussed on the data needs of the applications communities which are primarily concentrated on a need for improving the databases by obtaining new data that clarifies regions where incomplete or unreliable data are currently present; such improvements would positively impact results of calculations and simulations that rely on Figure 2: Impact of the evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) on basic nuclear science and broader applications 6 nuclear data input. Capabilities in the context of the NDNCA workshop refer to experimental facilities, as nicely compiled in an appendix of the applications white paper [2]. The present workshop concentrated on the needs of the basic nuclear science community for data and capabilities. The main role of this community is to generate and use data in order to understand the basic nuclear forces and interactions that are responsible for the existence and the properties of all nuclides and, as a consequence, to gain knowledge about the origins, evolution and structure of the universe. Thus, the experiments designed to measure a wealth of nuclear properties towards these fundamental scientific goals are typically performed from within this community. For the basic nuclear science community “data needs”, in the context of the USNDP mission, refers to the need for comprehensive and up-to-date evaluated nuclear science databases, which serve as the foundation of theoretical models and for identifying and planning future experimental and theoretical studies. For this community, “data capabilities” are essentially the tools available to interrogate, interpret and analyse the evaluated nuclear data from these databases. The USNDP plays a seminal role within the basic nuclear physics community and, therefore, close connections and communications