Z Fundamental Science Program Workshop 2022

Astrophysical bodies colliding in space during the later stage of Earth’s formation.

Background

Over the last few years, our ability to drive matter to unprecedented pressure / temperature states has produced significant new insights across many fields, including material science, planetary science, astrophysics, fusion science, radiation science, and plasma physics. Sandia’s Z facility is the premier facility in the world in the area of pulsed-power science and has unique capabilities to deliver high-precision data at extreme conditions. The Z facility is available to the academic community for fundamental science experiments and calls for proposals were issued in 2010, 2015, and 2017. Projects were selected after facility- and scientific peer review. Close interactions with the international research community are crucial for continued success and improvements of the fundamental science program. The workshop is the tenth of a series of yearly workshops held on the topic of fundamental science in extreme environments.

Workshop Objectives

We are excited to return to an in-person Workshop this year! The 13th Fundamental Science with Pulsed Power: Research Opportunities and User Meeting will be held at the Hotel Andaluz in downtown Albuquerque on Tuesday August 2 through Friday August 5. The Z Fundamental Science Program and this Workshop continue to be an integral part of the work on Z, bringing fresh ideas and initiatives. Returning to an in-person format will greatly facilitate the goals and intent of the Workshop! We feel that it is important to offer both a user meeting component – for collaborative users to present the status of their research and to hear about the Z accelerator facility status and plans – and collaborative component – to provide an opportunity for current and prospective future collaborators to discuss research directions and ideas for new work on Z. Current collaborative research areas are Astrophysics, Planetary Science, Materials Physics, and Magnetized High Energy Density (HED) Science that is relevant to Magnetized Inertial Fusion (MagLIF).

Tentative Agenda:

Tuesday evening – Welcome Reception

Wednesday am – Plenary Sessions

Wednesday pm – Plenary and Breakout Sessions

Thursday am – Plenary and Breakout Sessions

Thursday pm – Breakout Sessions and Student Poster Session

Friday am – Plenary and Breakout Sessions

More information regarding the Workshop is forthcoming.

Breakout Session Objectives

The Breakout sessions are meant to identify key scientific development/direction enabled by the Z Fundamental Science Program to date. The focus should be more about direction, capabilities, momentum, and new scope. The Breakout sessions also provide an excellent opportunity for current and prospective future collaborators to formulate research ideas, continue ongoing collaborations, begin new collaborations, and galvanize ideas for the Call for Proposals.

The Breakout sessions can also help define the future direction of the Z Fundamental Science Program and Z by identifying:

  • New research directions/ideas within existing fields and suggestions for new topics/fields
  • New or extended collaborative teams
  • How the Z Fundamental Science Program can best support the collaborative teams
  • Improvements on Z, i.e., new diagnostics or infrastructure that would be beneficial for the collaborative teams

Breakout Areas and Leads

Laboratory Astrophysics – Patty Cho, Don Winget, Jim Bailey

Planetary Physics / Materials – Sakun Duwal, Chad McCoy, Josh Townsend

Theory / Modeling / Computation – Andy Porwitzky

Magnetized HED / Z-pinch – Daniel Ruiz, Kathy Chandler, Matt Gomez

CY22 Call for Proposals

We are issuing a seventh Call for Proposals for the Z Fundamental Science Program. We plan to allocate 14 shots over a two year period beginning July 1, 2023 and ending June 30, 2025. The workshop is an excellent opportunity to formulate research ideas, continue ongoing collaborations, and start new teams.  Click here to access the Call for Proposals package in PDF format.

Student Session and travel support

A most important aspect of the Z Fundamental Science Program is the opportunity for students to participate on the research teams.  Throughout the lifetime of the Z Fundamental Science Program, students have developed experimental platforms and diagnostics, lead design reviews, and participated fully in fielding experiments on Z. We are again working with the NNSA Academic Programs to offer financial support to a number of students to attend the workshop. NNSA is currently expecting to be able to cover up to $1500 in costs (including travel, lodging, and registration) for up to 50 students.

If you are interested in travel support, please send an email to Marcus Knudson (mdknuds@sandia.gov) and/or Sandra Guthrie (sguthri@sandia.gov).  We will create an email distribution list and will send out information as soon as it becomes available.

Agenda

ZFSP 2022 Workshop Agenda

Astrophysics Breakout Workshop Agenda

Planetary Materials Breakout Workshop Agenda

Schedule Z-pinch HED Workshop Agenda