Astrophysics with heavy-ion beams

TL;DR

The paper discusses the FAIR facility's capabilities to advance nuclear astrophysics and QCD matter research through heavy-ion collisions and innovative experimental setups, shedding light on neutron star properties and cosmic nucleosynthesis.

Contribution

It introduces the FAIR facility and the CBM experiment as new tools for exploring high-density nuclear matter and astrophysical phenomena.

Findings

FAIR will enable high-intensity heavy-ion beams for astrophysics research.

CBM experiment will probe the high-density equation-of-state.

Research aims to understand neutron star properties and nucleosynthesis.

Abstract

The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), an international accelerator centre, is under construction in Darmstadt, Germany. FAIR will provide high-intensity primary beams of protons and heavy-ions, and intense secondary beams of antiprotons and of rare short-lived isotopes. These beams, together with a variety of modern experimental setups, will allow to perform a unique research program on nuclear astrophysics, including the exploration of the nucleosynthesis in the universe, and the exploration of QCD matter at high baryon densities, in order to shed light on the properties of neutron stars, and the dynamics of neutron star mergers. The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR will investigate collisions between heavy nuclei, and measure various diagnostic probes, which are sensitive to the high-density equation-of-state (EOS), and to the microscopic degrees-of-freedom of high-density matter. The CBM physics program will be discussed.