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ePaper created 2014-12-22, 09:34:33 | version 1.34.00
Matter and Technologies This programme is a new initiative designed to pool the technological know-how of the different Helmholtz centres and to further develop the research field in strategic terms. Challenges and goals in this context include the exploration and development of new accelerator technologies and the development of detector systems for a broad range of applications. Researchers will also be focusing on the further development of high-performance computers and data storage. Another aim is to expand knowledge transfer between the Helmholtz centres, other research organisa- tions and industry while also strengthening the ties be- tween the individual research fields within the Helmholtz Association. Energy I Earth and Environment I Health I Aeronautics, Space and Transport I Key Technologies I Structure of Matter 37 APPROACHING THE ISLAND OF STABILITY An international research team working at the GSI accel- erator facility has generated and observed several atoms of the as-yet nameless superheavy element with the atom- ic number 117. The fact that the measured properties of element 117 are in line with findings from the research centre in Dubna, Russia, fulfils an important condition required for official recognition of a new element. The experiment also produced atoms of the elements dubni- um and lawrencium. Evidence of their presence required a highly refined measure- ment regime and repre- sents a significant step towards identifying the “island of stabili- ty” of superheavy elements. GALACTIC KNEE AND EXTRAGALACTIC ANKLE Data collected in the KASCADE-Grande experiment at KIT show that the so-called “knee” of cosmic radiation, a bend in the energy spectrum at high energies, occurs at different energies for light and heavy particles. In the case of light particles, sci- entists involved in the experiment have shown that the energy spectrum flattens out again beyond the “knee” and forms a kind of “ankle”. This structure indicates that these particles are accelerated in galaxies other than the Milky Way. EXOTIC PARTICLE CONFIRMED For decades physicists have been searching in vain for exotic bound states comprising more than three quarks. Now experiments at Jülich’s COSY particle accelerator have shown that such complex particles actually exist in nature. The new measurements confirm re- sults from 2011, when more than 120 scientists from eight countries discovered strong indications of the existence of an exotic dibaryon made up of six quarks. Forschungszentrum Jülich Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research Element 117 was generated when calcium ions collided with this target wheel at GSI. Image: Christoph Düllmann/GSI A glimpse into the WASA detector: extremely precise measurements were facilitated by combining the detector with the COSY accel- erator. Image: Forschungszentrum Jülich The KASCADE experiment uses 252 detector stations distribu- ted over an area of 200 by 200 metres. Image: KIT