Z Fundamental Science Program Workshop 2023

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

August 9-11, Hotel Andaluz

Background

Over the last several 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, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. 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. This Workshop is the fourteenth in a series of yearly workshops held on the topic of fundamental science in extreme environments.

Workshop Objectives

The 14th Fundamental Science with Pulsed Power: Research Opportunities and User Meeting returns to the Hotel Andaluz in downtown Albuquerque on Wednesday, August 9 through Friday, August 11, with an evening Welcome Reception on Tuesday, August 8. The Z Fundamental Science Program and this Workshop continue to be an integral part of the work on Z, bringing fresh ideas and initiatives. 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 a 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 Sessions

Thursday pm – Breakout Sessions and Student Poster Session

Friday am – Plenary and Breakout Sessions

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
  • Ways that 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 (email) and Georges Jaar (email)

Planetary Physics / Materials – Pat Kalita (email), and Sakun Duwal (email), and Chad McCoy (email)

Data Science / Machine Learning – Luke Stanek (email) and Andy Porwitzky (email)

Magnetized HED / Z-pinch – Daniel Ruiz (email) and Kathy Chandler (email)

CY23 Call for Proposals

We are issuing an eighth Call for Proposals for the Z Fundamental Science Program. We plan to allocate 14 shots over a two-year period beginning July 1, 2024 and ending June 30, 2026. The workshop is an excellent opportunity to formulate research ideas, continue ongoing collaborations, and start new teams.

CY23 Z Proposal Call

CY23 Call for Proposals important dates:

  • June 15, 2023                                        Call opens
  • September 15, 2023                             Proposals due (to zproposals@sandia.gov)
  • December 15, 2023                              Notification of awards
  • July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2026                Experimental award period

Student / Postdoc Session and Travel Support

A very important aspect of the Z Fundamental Science Program is the opportunity for students and academic postdocs to participate on the research teams. Throughout the lifetime of the Z Fundamental Science Program, students and academic postdocs have developed experimental platforms and diagnostics, led design reviews, and participated fully in fielding experiments on Z. We are again working with the NNSA Academic Programs to offer financial support to several students and academic postdocs to attend the workshop. NNSA is currently expecting to be able to cover costs (including transportation, lodging, and registration) for up to 30 students/academic postdocs.

If you are interested in student / academic postdoc travel support, please email Marcus Knudson and Sandy Guthrie (mdknuds@sandia.gov and sguthri@sandia.gov) and please copy Tim Ledford (William.Ledford@chickasaw.com). Requests for travel support must be received by Friday, June 30. Upon receipt of inquiry, you will receive pertinent information from Chickasaw regarding rules for reimbursement (also note that reimbursement will occur after completion of the Workshop, i.e., you will have to pay for your travel arrangements in advance and submit a request for reimbursement after the Workshop).

Agenda

ZFSP 2023 Workshop Agenda

Planetary Physics / Materials Breakout Workshop Agenda

Magnetized HED / Z-pinch Breakout Workshop Agenda

Data Science / Machine Learning Breakout Workshop Agenda

Laboratory Astrophysics Breakout Workshop Agenda

Workshop Presentations

Plenary:

Planetary:

Theory: