The UNEDF Project

Overview A new era has dawned for nuclear structure and reaction theory. Renewed interest in the physics of nuclei is fueled by experiments at rare isotope beam facilities, which explore new regions of exotic nuclei; by astrophysical observations and simulations, which require controlled extrapolations of the nuclear equation of state; by the use of nuclei in experiments on fundamental symmetries, which rely on robust nuclear structure information; and by nuclear energy and security needs, which include predictions of reaction cross-sections and fission fragment properties. The UNEDF collaboration of nuclear theorists, applied mathematicians, and computer scientists is addressing this broad spectrum of physics through a comprehensive study of all nuclei, based on the most accurate knowledge of the strong nuclear interaction, the most reliable theoretical approaches, the most advanced algorithms, and extensive computational resources. UNEDF stands for “Universal Nuclear Energy Density Functional.” The mission of this five-year SciDAC (“Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing”) project is three-fold [1]: