“From TRIUMF: “TRIUMF receives historic investment in 2019 federal budget”

19 March 2019

Stu Shepherd
Communications Specialist
t +1 604.222.7528
sshepherd@triumf.ca

Today, the Government of Canada reaffirmed its longstanding support for TRIUMF with the announcement of a $292.7M investment over five years to support laboratory operations. This funding represents the largest single investment in TRIUMF to date. It comes in response to the bold vision presented in TRIUMF’s recently published Five-Year Plan 2020-2025. Details of the new funding were included in the 2019 federal budget, which was announced today in Ottawa.

TRIUMF is grateful for this strong support and appreciates the Government of Canada’s sustained commitment to science and innovation. Today’s investment will bolster TRIUMF’s broad portfolio of activities across three core pillars: science and technology; people and skills; and innovation and collaboration. It builds on Canada’s strength in science and research and will help ensure the nation’s continued competitiveness in the global knowledge economy.

TRIUMF’s Five-Year Plan 2020-2025 lays out a blueprint for TRIUMF’s future, grounded in three state-of-the-art platforms:

The Advanced Rare Isotope Laboratory (ARIEL), a multidisciplinary research facility for isotope research in science, medicine, and business;

The Institute for Advanced Medical Isotopes (IAMI), a world-class centre for the research and development of new isotope-based medical technologies;

and

TRIUMF Innovations, a commercialization engine translating TRIUMF’s discoveries into commercial opportunities.

With this support, the laboratory will be well-positioned to realize its mission of delivering discovery and innovation, inspiration and education, and knowledge and opportunity for all. “Today’s announcement sends a strong message of support for Canadian science and its role in Canada’s research and innovation ecosystem,” said TRIUMF Director Dr. Jonathan Bagger. “TRIUMF’s vision is for Canada to lead not only in discovery but also in technology, innovation, and training, so that our country will continue to develop the people and skills necessary for translating science to society. These goals lie at the heart of our Five-Year Plan 2020-2025. We are grateful to the Canadian government for its show of confidence in our vision for Canada’s future.”

“This investment from the federal government will allow TRIUMF to realize its full potential,” said Dr. Digvir Jayas, Chair of the TRIUMF Board of Management. “By leveraging ARIEL, IAMI, and TRIUMF Innovations, TRIUMF will continue to be a global leader in translating science and technology into innovation and commercialization. Today’s announcement represents a major milestone for the lab’s community of university members, researchers, students, users, industry partners and collaborators, and for all the people the lab serves.”

“Five-Year Plan 2020-2025 is the product of extensive consultation with the Canadian research community, TRIUMF’s university members, and the laboratory’s large number of public and private-sector partners,” explained Dr. Reiner Kruecken, TRIUMF’s Deputy Director, Research. “The government’s ongoing support for the laboratory’s operations validates the direction set out the Plan, and TRIUMF looks forward to delivering impact to stakeholders across our multidisciplinary suite of programs.”

For more information about TRIUMF’s Five-Year Plan 2020-2025, please visit: https://fiveyearplan.triumf.ca/

See the full article here .

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Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

Triumf Campus
World Class Science at Triumf Lab, British Columbia, Canada
Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics
Member Universities:
University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, Carleton University, University of Guelph, University of Manitoba, Université de Montréal, Simon Fraser University,
Queen’s University, University of Toronto, University of Victoria, York University. Not too shabby, eh?

Associate Members:
University of Calgary, McMaster University, University of Northern British Columbia, University of Regina, Saint Mary’s University, University of Winnipeg, How bad is that !!

From TRIUMF: “Canada to lead ‘coldbox’ technology for High-Luminosity LHC upgrade with $10M from Government of Canada”

From TRIUMF

25 June 2018

Lisa Lambert
Head, Strategic Communications
TRIUMF
lisa@triumf.ca
1.604.222.7356

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the most massive and complex science experiment in human history, is a prime example of global achievement through collaboration.

LHC

Driven by a multinational community of researchers, engineers, and technicians from over 100 countries, the LHC has enabled us to push the boundaries of scientific knowledge. Now, the machine is in the process of a major upgrade to boost performance – and Canada is playing a key role.

The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, today announced a $10 million contribution to mission-critical components in support of the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), a major overhaul to significantly improve the performance of the LHC and, as a result, enhance the probability of discovering new physics. Working with the Canadian research community and industry, experts at TRIUMF, Canada’s particle accelerator centre, will lead the production of the Canadian components with a $2 million in-kind contribution for a total project value of $12 million.

The Canadian community is applying its world-leading expertise to tackle a mission-critical challenge for the upgrade: building five new particle accelerator components called crab cavity cryogenic modules. These are super-sophisticated ‘coldboxes’ that will house the crab cavities.

No image caption or credit.

CERN crab cavities that will be used in the HL-LHC

The crab cavities will rotate bunches of subatomic particles before they smash together, significantly increasing the number of collisions, or luminosity, of the LHC. To operate effectively, the crab cavities require a highly regulated, constant ultra-low temperature environment, which is a daunting challenge due to the harsh conditions in the operating LHC – the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator.

Canada is a world-leader in the cryomodule technology that will surround the cavities and will leverage both TRIUMF’s unique network of expertise and the capacity of Canadian industry to design, fabricate, and deliver the crucial upgrade components over the next five years. With a history of providing mission-critical cavity technology to international science collaborations and successfully transferring these technologies to industry, the Canadian community is uniquely positioned to provide a high-impact, lasting contribution for the benefit of international science and society.

“Great science knows no borders. Great scientists know that success lies in strong collaboration. Today, I am pleased to announce support for Canada’s outstanding researchers, engineers and technicians, whose combined efforts will further our reputation as a global leader in particle physics. Their hard work will take us one step closer to understanding the fundamental nature of matter while delivering new technologies, training and job opportunities for the next generation.”

– The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities

“We are very pleased with Canada’s contribution to the HL-LHC project, which is another important milestone in a long-standing, fruitful collaboration with CERN. The technology and expertise of TRIUMF and Canadian industries, working with the strong particle physics community in the country, will be crucial for the realisation of very ambitious accelerator components for the next major project at CERN.”

– Dr. Fabiola Gianotti, Director-General of CERN

“This major upgrade to the LHC will lead to a significant increase in its already high impact on our understanding of the most fundamental workings of nature. Throughout the coming years of this exciting High Luminosity LHC era, Canadians will continue to be significant contributors and leaders in the international LHC scientific and technological enterprise.”

– Dr, Michael Roney, Director of Canada’s Institute of Particle Physics and University of Victoria Professor of Professor of Physics & Astronomy

“By contributing to the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider, Canada will secure its place in what will be one of the largest and most important physics projects in coming decades. From illuminating dark matter to discovering new particles and forces, Canadians will work alongside scientists from many nations. Through this work, Canada will increase its capacity for innovation and economic growth. And TRIUMF is happy to help.”

– Dr. Jonathan Bagger, Director of TRIUMF

To complete the cryomodule project, TRIUMF will call on expertise from its diverse member university base, including contributions from the University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, Carleton University, McGill University, Université de Montréal, Simon Fraser University, the University of Toronto, the University of Victoria, and York University.

In total, there are over 250 researchers, graduate students, and technical staff from leading Canadian universities and TRIUMF involved in the CERN programme. Canadian subatomic and accelerator researchers, engineers, and technicians have longstanding collaborations with CERN in many other areas, including experimental particle physics (ATLAS), rare isotope physics (ISOLDE), low-energy anti-proton and anti-hydrogen (ALPHA and ALPHA-g) including the accelerator aspects (ELENA), accelerator R&D (including AWAKE and HL-LHC developments), rare kaon decays (NA62), and strong synergy in theoretical physics work.

See the full article here .

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Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

From TRIUMF: “TRIUMF’s (ultra)cool experiment fires up”

TRIUMF

While all the science at TRIUMF is very cool, only one experiment can lay claim to being the (ultra)coolest of them all: the ultracold neutron (UCN) facility.
Scientists tell us that at the very beginning of the universe, equal amounts of matter and antimatter must have been created from the energy of the Big Bang. However, all around us, we see a beautiful universe made only of matter. So arises one of the oldest unsolved mysteries in physics: where did all the antimatter go?
The basic idea of how the universe could have ended up composed of only matter has been known for decades, but theorists have struggled to define a theory by which this mechanism could be realized; likewise, experimentalists have yet to definitively spot where this mechanism might be occurring. Scientists are looking in a variety of places, one being in the infinitesimally fine properties of one well-known subatomic particle: the neutron.
But, in order to use the neutrons for this purpose, the particles must first be cooled and slowed down to ultra-low speeds (5 metres per second, about the speed of a human sprinter), and then collected in special bottles. That isn’t easy, since neutrons are moving at a substantial fraction of the speed of light when they are first produced. And yet…
On Monday, November 13th, 2017, the TUCAN Collaboration at TRIUMF achieved a major milestone by producing the first ultra-cold neutrons (UCNs) ever created in Canada.

UCNs like those produced at TRIUMF move slow enough (~5 m/s, compared to ~500 m/s for air molecules) and with such low energy that they actually can be trapped and contained inside special bottles. This makes UCNs ideal for a variety of important fundamental physics measurements, including determining the neutron electric dipole moment (the nEDM). The nEDM is currently predicted to be vanishingly small, but if it is measured to be larger than expected, it could aid in solving the puzzle of why there is much more matter than antimatter in the universe!

The Japanese-Canadian TUCAN (TRIUMF Ultra Cold Advanced Neutron source) collaboration formed in 2010 with the goal of creating the world’s most intense UCN source to measure the nEDM with unprecedented precision. Between 2014 and 2016, a new proton beamline at TRIUMF was constructed to supply a spallation target for neutron production. During the most recent TRIUMF’s annual cyclotron shutdown period, the UCN source prototype from Japan was installed above the target. The secret behind creating UCNs lies in superfluid helium, which is cooled down to a temperature of less than 1 degree above absolute zero (<1K).

The TUCAN collaboration celebrated its first major milestone in November 2016 when it achieved its first beam-on-target; just a year later, the newly-installed UCN cryostat reached its design temperature of approximately 0.8K. Now, the first Canadian UCNs have been created from hot spallation neutrons produced using a 1 microamp, 480 MeV proton beam. The approximate 50000 UCNs counted per “shot” (pulse of protons on target) were well within expectation, enabling the planned experimental program to be carried out. This will include characterizing the source to aid in the development of the next-generation source, with which TUCAN hopes to achieve orders of magnitude more UCNs. The upgraded source will be deployed for the flagship nEDM experiment, which TUCAN hopes to run by 2020.

Congratulations to the TUCAN and UCN facility teams!

This project is led by the University of Winnipeg under principal investigator Prof. Jeff Martin and is supported by TRIUMF, CFI, BCKDF, MRF, and NSERC in Canada, and by KEK and RCNP in Japan.

From CERN Courier:

Feb 16, 2018
Neutrons cooled for interrogation

A proton beamline at TRIUMF

Researchers at TRIUMF in Canada have reported the first production of ultracold neutrons (UCN), marking an important step towards a future neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) experiment at the Vancouver laboratory. Precision measurements of the nEDM are a sensitive probe of physics beyond the Standard Model: if a nonzero value were to be measured, it would suggest a new source of CP violation, possibly related to the baryon asymmetry of the universe.

The TUCAN collaboration (TRIUMF UltraCold Advanced Neutron source) aims to measure nEDM a factor 30 better than the present best measurement, which has a precision of 3 × 10–26 e cm and is consistent with zero. For this to be possible, physicists need to provide the world’s highest density of ultracold neutrons. In 2010 a collaboration between Canada and Japan was established to realise such a facility and a prototype UCN source was shipped to Canada and installed at TRIUMF in early 2017.

The setup uses a unique combination of proton-induced spallation and a superfluid helium UCN source that was pioneered in Japan. A tungsten block stops a beam of protons, producing a stream of fast neutrons that are then slowed in moderators and converted to ultracold speeds (less than around 7 ms–1) by phonon scattering in superfluid helium. The source is based on a non-thermal down-scattering process in superfluid helium below 1 K, which gives the neutrons an effective temperature of a few mK. The ultracold temperature is below the neutron optical potential for many materials, which means the neutrons are totally reflected for all angles of incidence and can be stored in bottles for periods of up to hundreds of seconds.

Tests late last year demonstrated the highest current operation of this particular source, resulting in the most UCNs it has ever produced (> 300,000) in a single 60-second-long irradiation at a 10 µA proton beam current. This is a record for TRIUMF, but the UCN source intensity is still two orders of magnitude below what is needed for the nEDM experiment.

Funding of C$15.7 million to upgrade the UCN facility, a large proportion of which was granted by the Canada Foundation for Innovation in October 2017, will enable the TUCAN team to increase the production of neutrons at higher beam current to levels competitive with other planned nEDM experiments worldwide. These include proposals at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US, the Institut Laue–Langevin in France and others in Germany and Russia. The neutron EDM is experiencing intense competition, with most projects differing principally in the way they propose to produce the ultracold neutrons (CERN Courier September 2016 p27).

The nEDM experimental campaign at TRIUMF is scheduled to start in 2021. “The TRIUMF UCN source is the only one combining a spallation source of neutrons with a superfluid helium production volume, providing the project its uniqueness and competitive edge,” says team member Beatrice Franke.

See the full TRIUMF article here.
See the full CERN Courier article here .

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

Triumf Campus
World Class Science at Triumf Lab, British Columbia, Canada
Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics
Member Universities:
University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, Carleton University, University of Guelph, University of Manitoba, Université de Montréal, Simon Fraser University,
Queen’s University, University of Toronto, University of Victoria, York University. Not too shabby, eh?

From TRIUMF: “New results surface from world’s most sensitive argon dark matter experiment”

TRIUMF

31. August 2017

Argon in its natural form is a colourless, odorless, and non-flammable gas. It is also utterly unreactive – chemists and physicists have long wielded argon to formulate nonreactive and inert conditions. These qualities earned this noble gas its name, derived from the Greek word for ‘inactive.’

What use, then, is a 3600-kilogram sphere of liquid argon, buried under two kilometers of Ontario bedrock?

If you ask Dr. Pietro Giampa, a newly-joined TRIUMF scientist and recipient of the Otto Hausser Postdoctoral Fellowship, the simple answer (accompanied by a knowing smile) is: “Possibly changing our entire understanding of physics beyond the Standard Model, but also potentially the entire universe.” He delivers this response with the ease of repetition, a common trait among dark matter physicists. And while it may seem like a lofty claim, for Giampa and a dedicated team of particle physicists, astrophysicists, and astronomers at SNOLAB in Sudbury, ON, the proof may very well be in the depths of liquid argon.

Deeper understanding

The sphere of argon is a dark matter detector, and the central component of a state-of-the-art system called DEAP-3600: ‘Dark Matter Experiment using Argon Pulse-shape’ (with the argon weighing in at just over 3600 kilograms). Giampa and the DEAP-3600 team are working to characterize the fundamental properties of dark matter, a nebulous substance that makes up 23% of the mass of our universe and which we know next to nothing about.

DEAP-3600 is in search of a host of particles widely considered the most viable candidates for dark matter: weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs. WIMPs behave similarly to the building-block particles of our universe like protons and neutrons, except that they don’t interact via any forces other than the electroweak and gravitational. This means that most WIMPs pass through our world without any interaction with atoms, subatomic particles, or nearly anything else.

DEAP-3600 works by listening for collisions between dark matter and the nuclei of argon atoms. The impacts will be faint, and the apparatus can only listen in on one bandwidth at a time. Theoretical models beyond the Standard Model point to a WIMP of mass 100 gigaelectronvolts (GeV) or greater, a range DEAP is uniquely capable of investigating.

Essentially, the detector provides a small sphere of space where collision events between WIMPs and the nuclei of argon atoms can be quietly recorded. Inactive argon, which undergoes no radioactive decay unless perturbed, is the perfect target for incoming dark matter particles; situating the argon sphere 2070 meters below Earth’s surface only heightens DEAP’s senses, eliminating the white noise of WIMP-like cosmic rays and muons. With a sufficiently large detector space and a sufficiently sensitive detection apparatus, there’s a chance that we’ll bear witness to the first WIMP ever observed as it glances off an argon atom.

DEAP-3600 takes a long, hard listen; silence.

The DEAP team’s first results have surfaced: a new paper published by the group on August 1st, 2017 describes preliminary results from the experiment, and conclusions gleaned from just four and a half days of data-taking immediately following the completion of the detector system in August 2016. The paper details an extremely sensitive system, and a similarly sensitive, high-performance mathematical model for discriminating between the energy signals of WIMPs of different masses near the 100 GeV range.

The experiment didn’t observe any dark matter-argon collisions during its initial monitoring period, but this absence of signal is itself a telling sign. While the number of potential WIMP-argon collisions is as large as the diversity of WIMP masses, it is finite – by ruling out different masses of WIMPs, Giampa and the DEAP team are honing in on the mass of the WIMP that may interact with an argon nucleus.

Finding such a particle would be a boon for the field of particle physics. While WIMPS were chosen because they fit snugly into current theoretical models as potential dark matter particles, their discovery would have vast ramifications that extend beyond our current understanding of particle physics. Our entire concept of the universe would undergo a dramatic, tectonic shift.

With this lofty goal as their north star, the DEAP team (including TRIUMF scientists Pierre-Andre Amadruz, Ben Smith, Thomas Lidner, and TRIUMF team leader Fabrice Retiere) will continue their search, re-calibrating and tuning into different bandwidths of potential collisions. Further data-taking has been ongoing since August 2016, and it’s possible that more results will surface soon.

“We’re very excited to have proven the precision and sensitivity of the detector apparatus. While we’re but one of the many experiments around the world investigating the identity of dark matter, we can’t help but think that we are now one step closer to making this remarkable discovery.” – Dr. Pietro Giampa

To keep tabs on the DEAP team or to learn more about the experiment, visit: http://deap3600.ca/

See the full article here .

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From TRIUMF: “TRIUMF joins forces with Saint Mary’s University to characterize the nuclear force”

TRIUMF

Saint Mary’s University graduate student Amit Kumar, who worked at the IRIS facility at TRIUMF, and TRIUMF postdoctoral fellow Angelo Calci (left), Dr. Rituparna Kanungo,center, and Dr. Petr Navratil, right, were key players in the experimental analysis and theoretical calculations, respectively.

A research paper published June 28th. 2017 in Physical Review Letters is offering new insight into unraveling the mysteries of the strong nuclear force. Led by Saint Mary’s University, and in close collaboration with the TRIUMF theory group, the paper details a highly sensitive experiment at the ISAC Charged Particles Spectroscopy Station (IRIS) at TRIUMF that has shed light on previously unknown characteristics of the strong nuclear force.

ISAC Charged Particles Spectroscopy Station (IRIS) at TRIUMF

The project was a synthesis of state-of-the-art radioactive ion beam experiment and ab initio theory led by Dr. Rituparna Kanungo
of the Saint Mary’s University Department of Astronomy and Physics and Dr. Petr Navratil, TRIUMF Theory Department, together with researchers from TRIUMF-ISAC Experiment Group, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Technical University of Darmstadt, University of Guelph, McMaster University, KEK, RCNP, Nuclear Physics Institute in Orsay and University of Edinburgh.

Amit Kumar and Alisher Sanetullaev setting up the experiment. No image credit.

The team analyzed the diffraction pattern of scattering of the exotic isotope 10C following impact with an innovative, custom-made solid hydrogen target at IRIS. 10C is an invaluable tool to expose the finer details of the strong nuclear force because it sits at the proton drip-line- the edge of proton-rich bound nuclear isotopes. The paper demonstrated that, unlike highly stable carbon-12 (12C) and other naturally occurring elements, isotopes near the drip-line (like 10C) can amplify the less known features of the nuclear force in the scattering cross section. By comparing the new experimental results to theoretical predictions, the team was able to uncover a new and extremely sensitive probe of the nuclear force.

Measured differential cross section compared to calculations with different modern nuclear force models. See the Physical Review Letters article for details.

The team would like to gratefully acknowledge research support from NSERC, the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Nova Scotia Research and Innovation Trust. TRIUMF receives funding via a contribution through the National Research Council of Canada.

See the full article here .

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

From TRIUMF: “Novel radiochemistry technique opens door to new PET imaging agents”

TRIUMF

6.20.17

No image caption or credit

A team of researchers led by SFU scientists Matthew Nodwell, Robert Britton and TRIUMF scientists Hua Yang and Paul Schaffer has demonstrated a new method for producing radioisotopes for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) cancer scans, a type of medical imaging that produces images of organs and tissues inside the body. Published on March 1st, 2017 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), the results of the paper present an alternate methodology for incorporating the radiotracing isotope Fluorine-18 (18F) into amino acid compounds used in PET cancer scans. This alternate route represents an exciting step towards streamlining the production of radiotracers and opens the door to diverse PET capabilities.

PET scan is only as good as its radiotracer

PET scans are invaluable diagnostic tools for tracking the progression of cancer and other diseases in the body. PET scans combine one of a variety of radioisotope-tagged biomolecules (‘radiotracers’), each formulated to visualize a different illness, and a gamma-ray camera to detect and locate emissions from the decaying radiotracer atoms. By tracking where the biomolecules travel and accrete within the body, PET scans can offer valuable insight into the location and degree of disease progression in real time.

PET radioisotopes are created by ‘tagging’ a particular biomolecule with radioactive isotopes- for instance, inserting an 18F atom in the place of a hydrogen atom in an amino acid molecule. 18F is the mostly commonly used PET isotope that can be tagged to biomolecules, which in turn are chosen for their relationship to ailments like cancers, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and even broken bones.

However, adjoining 18F to a biomolecule is no simple task. Researchers must first identify a viable molecule for insertion (one involved in the abnormal cellular metabolism characteristic of cancer, for example), then determine a location where an 18F atom can be placed without disrupting the biomolecule’s normal function. Radiochemists must then devise a precursor for that molecule and a targeted chemical reaction to insert the 18F atom. Creating new radio-tagged biomolecules is a lengthy and time-consuming exercise in synthetic chemistry, and much radiochemical research is devoted to streamlining and improving radiotracer development.

No image caption or credit.

The rigors of radiotracer production are, in part, why Matthew Nodwell and Hua Yang were so excited to share their results. The research group they lead, a collaboration between TRIUMF, Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA), has presented a new and improved way to create radiotracers via direct fluorination without the need for harsh chemical conditions or complex precursors.

The new technique relies on the role of the amino acid leucine in cancer progression. As the building blocks of protein, amino acids often exist in high concentrations in tumours and malignancies and thus represents promising PET imaging molecules. However, traditional synthetic strategies for incorporating radionuclides into amino acid molecules often require chemically harsh conditions (strong bases, high temperatures, etc.) that risk decomposing the starting materials. Even getting the amino acid molecule to the point where it can be fluorinated can take multiple time-consuming steps involving a variety of precursor molecules. The technique developed by the group circumvents these obstacles and allows easy access to a suite of molecules that show potential for development as oncological imaging agents.

“I think we set a new record!” said Nodwell of the new fluorination technique. “We’ve never been able to move so quickly from the first step, molecule identification, to the final step, visualizing the completed radiofluorinated tracer using a PET scan. We took a fairly unorthodox approach to the fluorination technique, but it paid off- the entire process now takes just over two weeks.”

“Our radiofluorination technique represents a portal to access fluorinated amino acids like never before,” said Yang. “The method we’ve devised will allow rapid proof-of-feasibility for a wide variety of potential PET scanning molecules, as well as support high throughput production of radiotracers. We are eager to explore the diversity of opportunities for new oncology tracers enabled by this technique.”

Nodwell, Yang, and members of the research group are examining the utility of their fluorination technique for developing other, non-amino acid radiotracers for other PET applications.

See the full article here .

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

From TRIUMF: “TRIUMF’s science competitiveness affirmed”

TRIUMF

June 23, 2016 [Competitive, but not timely, this just appeared in social media.]
No writer credit

The Government of Canada announced $460 million in funding for basic research through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) 2016 competition for the discovery research programs. These programs support researchers and students and include funds for scholarships, fellowships, research supplements and equipment.

TRIUMF research was the direct beneficiary of close to $2 million in funding through grants to staff and lab-associated scientists. The projects supported span a broad range of fields from theoretical and experimental investigations of atomic nuclei, to ATLAS detector upgrades at the Large Hadron Collider. The success in securing these NSERC grants affirms the quality and competitiveness of TRIUMF’s scientific program across its full breadth.

One highlight was the individual grant to Dr. Cornelia (Conny) Hoehr of TRIUMF , for her proposal “Novel Production Methods of Medical Isotopes: Securing Canada’s Supply Chain”.
Dr. Cornelia (Conny) Hoehr

Congratulations to all the grant recipients! TRIUMF is proud of your work and the attention it has brought to the lab’s scientific mission.

Dr. Cornelia (Conny) Hoehr

It was notable for being Conny’s first Discovery Grant as a recent Board Appointed Employee, and for NSERC’s support of an applied physics project in support of TRIUMF’s nuclear medicine program.

See the full article here .

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

From UBC Science: “New TRIUMF branch office bolsters Canada-Japan partnership in physics research”

University of British Columbia

TRIUMF

KEK

May 16, 2016
Chris Balma
balma@science.ubc.ca
604.822.5082
c 604-202-5047

The Cyclotron at TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics at UBC

TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics housed at UBC, has launched a branch office in Japan, cementing ties with the nation’s high-energy accelerator cluster.

The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Canada’s Minister of Science, announced the partnership between Canada and Japan this weekend as she unveiled the new TRIUMF branch office located at Japan’s KEK. Duncan was joined by dignitaries from both laboratories to perform the ribbon cutting, celebrating the research collaboration between these two hubs for subatomic physics research.

The new branch office, which is also shared with CERN, follows the recent signing of a new partnership agreement this December by Jonathan Bagger, Director of TRIUMF – Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics and accelerator-based science – and Dr. Masanori Yamauchi, Director General of KEK – The High Energy Accelerator Research Organization in Japan. This agreement enhances research collaborations between the two labs to answer questions on areas ranging from the breadth and composition of the universe to topics closer to home, such as the properties of advanced materials.

“As world leaders in subatomic physics, TRIUMF and KEK have forged an extraordinary collaboration that continues to unlock new opportunities to advance this important field,” said Duncan. “I congratulate both organizations on this new milestone and wait in anticipation to see the strides in fundamental research that will undoubtedly come out of this new era of innovation and partnership between our two countries.”

“For decades, TRIUMF and KEK have been recognized internationally in the areas of subatomic physics, accelerator science and materials science,” said KEK Director General Masanori Yamauchi. “Through our growing partnership, we will continue to be global leaders in advancing these areas of research, as well acting as pillars of scientific co-operation.”

“The opening of this new branch office represents not just a strengthening of the partnership between TRIUMF and KEK, but also the importance of collaboration on the global scale,” said Bagger, TRIUMF Director. “I look forward to the leaps that TRIUMF and KEK will make together to advance discovery and innovation at home and abroad.”

TRIUMF and KEK have numerous shared projects in the areas of subatomic physics, accelerator science, and materials science. Current efforts include the T2K and Belle II experiments in Japan, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and the proposed International Linear Collider The hope of this new office and indeed the new partnership agreement is to advance scientific discovery through enhanced bilateral collaboration.

From TRIUMF: “Canada and Japan Strengthen Partnership”

TRIUMF

At a signing ceremony hosted on Friday, December 4 at the Canadian Embassy in Japan, the heads of Canada’s TRIUMF and Japan’s High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, KEK, signed a new partnership agreement to significantly enhance research collaborations between the two centres and promote joint projects in the areas of subatomic physics, accelerator science, and materials science.

“This agreement represents an important milestone in the TRIUMF-KEK and Canada-Japan bilateral relationship,” said Dr. Jonathan Bagger, TRIUMF Director. “This agreement will enhance cooperation between our organizations and countries in support of cutting-edge research, such as the Ultra-Cold Neutron project in Canada and the T2K experiment in Japan.”

As international hubs for subatomic physics research, both TRIUMF and KEK are involved in the research, development, and operation of particle accelerator facilities. Both share collaborative projects in these areas, with current efforts relating to T2K, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the Belle II experiment, the proposed International Linear Collider, materials and molecular sciences, and particle physics experiments using neutrons, muons, and kaons, in addition to accelerator science.

T2K

LHC at CERN

Belle 2

ILC

Recently, the jointly awarded 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics to Canadian researcher Dr. Arthur B. McDonald and Japanese researcher Dr. Takaaki Kajita illustrates the shared spirit of inquiry between Canada and Japan.

To further strengthen collaborative research opportunities and jointly advance scientific efforts, this new agreement stipulates that each laboratory will set up a branch office at each other’s respective institution.

Dr. Masanori Yamauchi, Director General of KEK, said “Building on KEK and TRIUMF’s strong foundation of international scientific cooperation, this new agreement, and particularly the establishment of branch offices, will facilitate and enhance our common work on current and future scientific projects of shared interest.”

The December 4th signing ceremony was held in the presence of the Ambassador of Canada to Japan, His Excellency Mackenzie Clugston; Ms. Susan Bincoletto, Assistant Deputy Minister, International Business Development, and Chief Trade Commissioner, Global Affairs Canada; Ms. Yayoi Komatsu, Director-General, Research Promotion Bureau of Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT); a delegation from TRIUMF led by the laboratory’s Director Dr. Jonathan Bagger; and a delegation from KEK led by the organization’s Director General Dr. Masanori Yamauchi.

“For nearly half a century, both laboratories have served as an international center of excellence for accelerator science … and provided opportunities for … domestic and foreign researchers,” said Ms. Yayoi Komatsu, Director General, Research Promotion Bureau, MEXT.

“I congratulate TRIUMF and KEK on this important step for international scientific collaboration,” said The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science in Canada. “Canada and Japan are among the world’s leaders in the field of subatomic physics. This partnership will deepen our knowledge of this fundamental research area and create innovations to benefit both of our countries.”

“Canada and Japan share a long history of bilateral cooperation in science, technology and innovation,” said Ambassador of Canada to Japan, His Excellency Mackenzie Clugston. “TRIUMF and KEK are an excellent example of this.”

“This agreement is a significant achievement and another milestone in advance of the 30th anniversary of the Canada-Japan Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement in 2016,” noted Ms. Susan Bincoletto, Assistant Deputy Minister, International Business Development, and Chief Trade Commissioner, Global Affairs Canada.

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From TRIUMF: “Setting the trap for Ultra-Cold Neutrons”

TRIUMF

August 19, 2015

For most of the lab, the end of the annual cyclotron shutdown period marks the beginning of a new experimental season, as beam time makes its way around the facilities.

But for the team behind TRIUMF’s Ultra-Cold Neutron (UCN) project., it is a time to reflect on the progress that was made and assess the final steps towards realizing a first production of ultra-cold neutrons by early 2017.

UCN at TRIUMF

The UCN source will produce, through a tungsten spallation target, ultra-cold neutrons, which will enable researchers to study the neutron electric dipole moment. Essentially, the team will be probing the distance of the electric charges in the neutron. This requires complex infrastructure.

The problem: it can only be installed during the shutdown period.

Ruediger Picker (RP), a researcher in the particle physics department and UCN project leader, spoke with Communications Assistant Kelsey Litwin (KL) to provide an update on the installation process.

KL: During our last check-in, at the end of the 2014 annual shutdown, the UCN team had just tackled the “immovable block,” hidden underneath the support system of the M15 beam line. It had been in the direct path of the new UCN beam line, which will deliver protons to the tungsten spallation target. Can you give us a summary of what was done since then?

RP: A lot of planning. While the front-end of the M13 beam line and the PIENU experimental areas were cleaned up, the downstream section of the UCN beam line and the kicker cable routing was planned.

The kicker magnet for the UCN beam line is a fast ramping magnet. It ramps up and down in less than 50 microseconds. As a result, the cable to power the supply needs to be very large and heavy. The power supply sits on top of the cyclotron vault roof, while the kicker is below in the vault tunnel area. The cable therefore has to penetrate the cyclotron roof beams, needing an S curve routing to avoid radiation shine upward.

KL: The plan for the beginning of the 2015 shutdown was to decommission the M13 beam line and prepare the experimental area. How did that go?

RP: The decommissioning was planned between the 2014 and the 2015 shutdowns. There was a special focus was on the two dipole magnets, B1 and B2. It was decided that the active iron yoke of the B1 dipole would be used as shielding.

During the shutdown, the B2 yoke of the dipole magnet was retrofitted to make it a shielding block, the B1 magnet was moved temporarily for later use, and the M13 beam tube has been sealed to allow pumping down to vacuum. This renders the M13 beam line fully decommissioned.

The experimental area was cleaned up in preparation for the continued installation. As well, the kicker cable was successfully routed as we had planned and the downstream section of the UCN beam line, BL1U, was installed. Finally, the base layer of shielding below the tungsten spallation target was laid down.

All in all, I would say that all important shutdown projects were completed successfully.

KL: With hopes to stay on track for first beam time in late-2016/early-2017, your team certainly does not have any downtime. What is the team up to while physical work is not underway?

RP: We are currently planning the UCN source integration. The source cryostat needs to be incorporated into the TRIUMF infrastructure, in a way that is safe and able to be controlled remotely.

We are also designing the last three meters of the beam line, including the target crypt, which connects to the BL1U beam pipe and the target remote handling system, and the target itself. A target remote handling review was conducted in July and we will receive the review report soon.

The schedule for finishing the target remote handling system is tight, but doable. So far, the plan is to have first beam in BL1U by mid 2016, beam on target towards the end of 2016.

KL: You provided us with a time-lapse video of the installation taking place in the Meson Hall over a four-month period. What would you like for someone watching it to take away?

There are four things that I would like to show people. Building a scientific apparatus is 1) a lot of real work, 2) heavy lifting, 3) still a little bit like playing with LEGO, and 4) a shame that we have to cover all the nice equipment back up after each shutdown.

Kelsey Litwin, Communications Assistant

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