The Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro (Legnaro National Laboratories, LNL) is one of the four major research centers of the Italian
National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN).
The primary focus of research at this laboratory is in the fields of
nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
and
nuclear astrophysics
Nuclear astrophysics is an interdisciplinary part of both nuclear physics and astrophysics, involving close collaboration among researchers in various subfields of each of these fields. This includes, notably, nuclear reactions and their rates as ...
, where five accelerators are currently used. It is one of the most important facilities in Italy for research in these fields.
The main future project of the laboratory is the Selective Production of Exotic Species (SPES), in which various
radionuclides
A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transfer ...
will be produced for research and medicinal purposes.
History
The establishment of a laboratory in
Legnaro
Legnaro is a ''comune'' in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about southwest of Venice and about southeast of Padua. As of 31 December, 2010, it had a population of 8,594 and an area of .All demographics and other stati ...
was first suggested in 1956 to promote nuclear physics research in Italy in addition to previous work in
particle physics
Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...
. In 1959, the
University of Padua
The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...
decided that a new laboratory would be built near Legnaro, rather than install new equipment in older facilities. The laboratory was founded in 1960 by physicist
Antonio Rostagni and research commenced within the next year. After initial investigations demonstrated the conceived role of the Legnaro Laboratories in nuclear physics research, the facility became integrated into the INFN in 1968.
![INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Italy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/INFN_Laboratori_Nazionali_di_Legnaro%2C_Italy.jpg)
In subsequent years, several accelerators were newly installed or upgraded. The original CN accelerator, whose operations commenced with the opening of the laboratory, was upgraded to allow use and study of heavier ions. More advanced facilities were installed in the next decades: the XTU Tandem accelerator in 1981 (inaugurated in 1982) and the Linear Superconducting Accelerator (ALPI) in 1991. The installation of new facilities enabled more advanced studies to be performed at the Legnaro laboratories, increasing its importance in international research in nuclear physics.
Currently, most work at the Legnaro National Laboratories involves studies of
nuclear structure
Understanding the structure of the atomic nucleus is one of the central challenges in nuclear physics.
Models The liquid drop model
The liquid drop model is one of the first models of nuclear structure, proposed by Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcke ...
,
nuclear reaction
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, a nuclear reaction is a process in which two atomic nucleus, nuclei, or a nucleus and an external subatomic particle, collide to produce one or more new nuclides. Thus, a nuclear reaction must cause a t ...
s, and
gamma-ray spectroscopy
Gamma-ray spectroscopy is the quantitative study of the energy spectra of gamma-ray sources, such as in the nuclear industry, geochemical investigation, and astrophysics.
Most radioactive sources produce gamma rays, which are of various energi ...
; the last was internationally recognized in the 1990s.
The recent focus of the Legnaro Laboratories, and the main future project, is SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species).
A new accelerator for the production of
radioactive
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...
ion beam
An ion beam is a type of charged particle beam consisting of ions. Ion beams have many uses in electronics manufacturing (principally ion implantation) and other industries. A variety of ion beam sources exists, some derived from the mercury ...
s has been under construction since 2007,
and the alpha phase of the project, featuring a new cyclotron, was inaugurated in December 2016.
Subsequent beta, gamma, and delta phases are planned, approved, and funded by INFN and the Italian government; it will be possible to synthesize new isotopes and mass produce
medically useful isotopes once they are completed.
Facilities and projects
Accelerators
There are six accelerators in operation at the Legnaro National Laboratories:
* CN: installed in 1961. Maximum energy reached for beams was 7
MeV
In physics, an electronvolt (symbol eV, also written electron-volt and electron volt) is the measure of an amount of kinetic energy gained by a single electron accelerating from rest through an Voltage, electric potential difference of one volt i ...
, but nowadays run in 5.57 MeV energy. 7 meter tall (vertically installed) electrostatic accelerator.
* AN 2000: installed in 1971, 2 MeV beams. Electrostatic accelerator.
* XTU-TANDEM (or TANDEM-XTU): inaugurated 1982. Beam energy few hundred MeV. Electrostatic accelerator.
* ALPI (Acceleratore Lineare Per Ioni, Linear Superconducting Accelerator): Started operation in 1991. A superconducting cryogenic linear accelerator. Boosts beams from the TANDEM-XTU and PIAVE accelerators.
* PIAVE (Positive Ion Accelerator for Very Low velocity ions): Entered operation in late 2014. Superconducting linear accelerator used as injector to ALPI. A few meters in length.
* P70 cyclotron: inaugurated 2 December 2016. Part of the SPES project.
All accelerators are used to accelerate various ions for nuclear physics purposes.
AURIGA
![Auriga antenna esposta LNL](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Auriga_antenna_esposta_LNL.png)
The Legnaro National Laboratories are the site of
AURIGA
AURIGA (''Antenna Ultracriogenica Risonante per l'Indagine Gravitazionale Astronomica'') is an ultracryogenic resonant bar gravitational wave detector in Italy. It is at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nuclea ...
, a
gravitational wave detector
A gravitational-wave detector (used in a gravitational-wave observatory) is any device designed to measure tiny distortions of spacetime called gravitational waves. Since the 1960s, various kinds of gravitational-wave detectors have been built ...
for astrophysical
gravitational waves
Gravitational waves are waves of the intensity of gravity generated by the accelerated masses of an orbital binary system that Wave propagation, propagate as waves outward from their source at the speed of light. They were first proposed by Oliv ...
research.
It became operational in 2004, and has been continuously in operation since then. In 2016, it was proven that the AURIGA
resonant mass detector is sufficiently sensitive for
dark matter
Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called "dark" because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not ab ...
searches, and perhaps more suitable than more modern detectors such as
LIGO
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. Two large ...
.
The experiment is closed and the AURIGA antenna is an exhibit at LNL (since April 2021).
SPES
The SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) project involves the construction of several new accelerators specially designed for the production of radioisotopes. In the beta phase,
fission at 10
13 fissions per second
and fragmentation of
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
will be studied to yield exotic neutron-rich
isotope
Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers (mass numbers) ...
s and produce beams with these isotopes at higher intensities than those currently available. These include nuclei near the
nuclear drip line
The nuclear drip line is the boundary beyond which atomic nuclei decay by the emission of a proton or neutron.
An arbitrary combination of protons and neutrons does not necessarily yield a stable nucleus. One can think of moving up and/or to ...
s and
shell closures that play an important role in the astrophysical
r-process
In nuclear astrophysics, the rapid neutron-capture process, also known as the ''r''-process, is a set of nuclear reactions that is responsible for the creation of approximately half of the atomic nuclei heavier than iron, the "heavy elements", ...
.
A variety of medically useful radioisotopes will also be mass produced as part of the project's gamma phase.
By 2017, significant progress was made on the construction of the SPES facility; the first beams of exotic isotopes are expected to be available in late 2019.
[
]
GAMMA experiment
The GAMMA experiment is underway at several European laboratories including the Legnaro National Laboratories. It uses gamma-ray spectroscopy to study the structure of light nuclei, as well as their unbound states and roles in nucleosynthesis
Nucleosynthesis is the process that creates new atomic nuclei from pre-existing nucleons (protons and neutrons) and nuclei. According to current theories, the first nuclei were formed a few minutes after the Big Bang, through nuclear reactions in ...
processes. At present, LNL is one of the facilities delivering stable ion beams, though the development of SPES will also allow contribution of high-intensity radioactive ion beams.
The major experiment installed in the laboratories are PRISMA (heavy ion magnetic spectrometer, with trajectory reconstruction system), GALILEO (Hyper pure Germanium gamma ray detector system, with the possibility of scintillator expansion) and EXOTIC (light exotic beam production and study).
In 2022, the european AGATA system
Advanced Gamma Tracking Array
will be installed in the Tandem-Alpi-Piave complex and it will start a new data taking session. The Advanced Gamma Tracking Array will be coupled with the PRIMSA spectrometer and thanks to the new beam interconnection between Tandem-Alpi-Piave complex and the SPES project, AGATA system will be received exotic beams produced in the SPES facility.
See also
* Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso
Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) is the largest underground research center in the world. Situated below Gran Sasso mountain in Italy, it is well known for particle physics research by the INFN. In addition to a surface portion of the ...
* Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati
The INFN National Laboratory of Frascati (LNF) was founded in 1954 with the objective of furthering particle physics research, and more specifically to host the 1.1 GeV electrosynchrotron, the first accelerator ever built in Italy. The Labo ...
References
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Physics laboratories
Research institutes in Italy
Laboratories in Italy
1960 establishments in Italy