The Department of Energy recently announced grant awards for three Topical Theory Collaborations, multi-institution research collaborations to address particularly important topics in nuclear physics. “Nuclear Theory for Double-Beta Decay and Fundamental Symmetries (DBD Collaboration),” led by UNC Physics and Astronomy Professor Jonathan Engel, was one of the projects selected. Also involved in the collaboration are Central Michigan University, the College of William and Mary, Iowa State, Michigan State University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, San Diego State University, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Massachusetts, and the University of Tennessee. The collaboration “uses theoretical nuclear physics to address questions about fundamental particles and symmetries,” according to the project abstract. The funding, which amounts to $2.5M over five years, bolsters in particular theoretical research on the topic of double-beta decay, which can answer longstanding questions about neutrinos. UNC is a leader on the experimental side of this subject as well.
More information:
DOE Award Announcement
Project Abstract