Imagine technology so advanced it can accelerate a beam of stable atomic nuclei to half the speed of light, attracting scientists from all over the world to study the building blocks of the universe.
That technology, the world’s most powerful heavy-ion accelerator, will be fully operational in spring 2022. Hosted at Michigan State University, it sets the stage for scientific discovery and applications in fields such as material science, environmental studies and medicine.
The accelerator is the centerpiece of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, a user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, or DOE-SC, supporting the mission of the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics. MSU is the only university in the nation to operate this type of user facility in the heart of a research university campus.
The DOE-SC selected MSU to establish and operate FRIB, entrusting the university with creating priority research opportunities for the nation.
FRIB is capable of producing 80% of the isotopes thought to exist in the universe. It’s a monumental leap forward from current technology that also uses powerful accelerators to create collisions of elements and their neutrons to produce isotopes. The difference is the power of the beam.
“One of the metrics of discovery potential is the intensity of the primary beam, and FRIB will have the most intense primary beam in the world,” said FRIB Laboratory Director Thomas Glasmacher.
FRIB is another shining example of MSU’s continued national and international leadership in not only nuclear physics but medicine, education, plant science, agriculture and other fields that continue to have a positive impact on the world.
In 1958, the university set a course for excellence in nuclear science that materialized into the Cyclotron Laboratory, which became the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. Since 2010, MSU has been home to the No. 1 ranked nuclear physics graduate program in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report.
While no one can predict which area of science will generate the next breakthrough, the research that will be conducted at FRIB is a priority for the nation’s nuclear science community. What discoveries will FRIB’s unique technology make possible? With access to more than 1,000 isotopes, scientists will have insight into the physics that formed the universe and the way heavy elements came into existence on our planet.
Research with the rare isotopes will accelerate innovation in everything from medicine to environmental science to nuclear security. One of the most immediate areas of potential impact is medicine. Finding new ways to treat challenging cancers is a prime example. The emerging field of theranostics — diagnostics and therapy combined — uses radioactive isotopes in hunting down malignant cells. With the discovery of new isotopes, FRIB will take the technology deeper, helping doctors find and destroy cells that had previously eluded detection.
With all its potential, FRIB will attract nuclear scientists from across the nation and around the world, while inspiring Michigan-based students to pursue science careers.
Artemis Spyrou, professor of physics at FRIB and in the MSU Department of Physics and Astronomy, knows the source of that inspiration well.
“The motivation always comes from the stars — from understanding these big questions about the universe, where the elements were created, how stars evolve,” she said.
Ultimately, the impact of FRIB on scientific discovery will be felt worldwide, but also notably in Michigan and the nation. It holds the power to be a great source of economic development, with new investment from complementary industries and ancillary businesses.
The answers we seek and the advancement we pursue are suddenly closer because of MSU’s — and FRIB’s — unwavering commitment to excellence, discovery and innovation, and the investment in science made by the DOE-SC, MSU and the state of Michigan.
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