Theoretical Nuclear Physics

The Nuclear Theory program encompasses the structure and reactions of nuclei, and of hadrons in few-nucleon and nuclear environments, and the quark/gluon substructure expressed by QCD. Supported research includes contributions to broad theoretical advances as well as model building and applications to experimental programs at facilities such as RHIC and Jefferson Laboratory, and to astrophysical phenomena. This includes formulating new approaches for theoretical, computational, and experimental research that explore the fundamental laws of physics and the behavior of physical systems; formulating quantitative hypotheses; exploring and analyzing the implications of such hypotheses analytically and computationally; and, in some cases, interpreting the results of experiments. The effort also includes a considerable number of interdisciplinary grants.In addition, the program supports infrastructure activities such as short- and long-term visitor programs, workshops, and research centers involving the participation of external scientists from universities, national laboratories, and industry, as well as graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.