Engineering Development for Establishing IsoDAR

This award provides funds for the Research and Development and engineering necessary to bring the IsoDAR (Isotope Decay-at-Rest) project from the current Conceptual Design Report (CDR) stage to a Preliminary Design Report (PDR) stage. IsoDAR is a novel, pure anti-electron-neutrino source that, when paired with a large hydrogen-based, underground detector, allows for state-of-the-art Beyond-Standard-Model searches for sterile neutrinos and non-standard neutrino interactions.

While the standard electron, muon, and tau neutrinos (and antineutrinos) interact with matter through two forces (the weak force and gravity), sterile neutrinos, if they exist, might interact only through gravity. Searches for light sterile neutrinos with mass on the order of one electron Volt are motivated by observed anomalies in several experiments. A positive result from IsoDAR that could explain these anomalies would transform the field.

A centerpiece Broader Impact for this award is the possibility for developing an isotope production cyclotron. A modest redesign of the IsoDAR accelerator can be applied to the production of medical isotopes at levels that are hundreds to thousands of times higher than present production facilities, potentially saving many lives. For workforce training, the groups are committed to bringing under-represented groups into the STEM field and plan to integrate undergraduates into the IsoDAR hardware and development projects.

A main part of undergraduate participation is the summer research programs, which include a very successful Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) program.

The IsoDAR cyclotron and neutrino production target are creative, original, and transformative. To meet the physics goals, the cyclotron will capture, accelerate, and extract 5 mA of H+2 (10 mA of protons), which is an order of magnitude beyond current cyclotrons. The novel targeting, cooling, and neutrino production, besides producing an unprecedented rate of electron antineutrinos for experimentation, will also pave new ground for accelerator and target technology.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.