The GSI Helmholtzzentrum and the future accelerator center FAIR start the New Year with an exciting new digital offer: Beginning in February, special online visits will be organized. The live moderated events offer a comprehensive insight into current research and the experimental facilities at GSI/FAIR and allow questions to be asked and discussed in real time. Also included is an exclusive view at the mega construction site for the future accelerator center FAIR, one of the largest…

The first long multiplet for the superconducting fragment separator (Super-FRS) of the new FAIR accelerator, produced by the company ASG Superconductors in Italy, was delivered to the test stand at the European research center CERN in Switzerland. A cooperation agreement exists between GSI/FAIR and CERN for the testing of accelerator magnets, under which the multiplet will undergo a series of detailed quality tests before delivery to Darmstadt.

An international research team succeeded in gaining new insights into the artificially produced superheavy element flerovium, element 114, at the accelerator facilities of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany. Under the leadership of Lund University in Sweden and with significant participation of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) as well as the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM) in Germany and other partners, flerovium was produced and investigated.

Scientists are able to selectively knockout nucleons and preformed nuclear clusters from atomic nuclei using high-energy proton beams. In an experiment performed at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP) in Osaka in Japan, the existence of preformed helium nuclei at the surface of several tin isotopes could be identified in a reaction. The results confirm a theory, which predicts the formation of helium clusters in low-density nuclear matter and at the surface of heavy nuclei.

Novel calculations have enabled the study of nearly 700 isotopes between helium and iron, showing which nuclei can exist and which cannot. In an article published in Physical Review Letters, scientists report how they simulated for the first time using innovative theoretical methods a large region of the chart of nuclides based on the theory of the strong interaction. The ExtreMe Matter Institure EMMI of GSI and TU Darmstadt is also involved in the research efforts.

Great progress has been made and important stages are completed within the FAIR project, one of the largest construction projects for research worldwide. A new time lapse video created with a sophisticated filming technique makes particularly tangible these developments on the mega construction site during the last three years. Several videos, recorded with regular drone flights over the site, were superimposed precisely with GPS support and thus combined to one single video.

The heavy ion accelerator SIS100 with a circumference of 1.1 kilometers is the heart of the future accelerator facility FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), which is currently being built at GSI. In the future, it will accelerate the heaviest ions to their maximum velocity within half a second. All the necessary cavities, power amplifiers and power supply units have now been delivered to GSI/FAIR. This completes the series production of the SIS100 main acceleration systems.

Former President of the Japanese Research Institute RIKEN Professor Akito Arima passed away on 6 December at the age of 90. In addition to his outstanding contributions to science, his achievements for RIKEN's international relations will be a lasting legacy. During his presidency from 1993 to 1998, he essentially strengthened the cooperation between GSI and RIKEN (Tokyo). The management of GSI/FAIR sends heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

Dr. Ivan Miskun has been honored with the FAIR-GSI PhD Award 2020. The recognition, which is awarded annually, is endowed with 1000 euros donated by Pfeiffer Vacuum. The award was handed over in December during a virtual FAIR-GSI colloquium by Professor Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Director of FAIR and GSI, and Daniel Sälzer, Managing Director of Pfeiffer Vacuum GmbH.