JUSTIPEN: Science in the international context

Physicists seek to understand nuclei through creating an experimental capability to investigate neutron rich nuclei and to utilize experimental data to validate a theoretical framework for describing all nuclei, including those produced in violent stellar deaths. Experimental efforts in Japan with the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory (RIBF), and with the future Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Germany, and the future Facility for Rare Isotope Beams to be built at Michigan State University, along with existing facilities at Oak Ridge, Argonne, and other institutions, will be complemented by theoretical advances that focus on physics with exotic nuclei. The Japan Institute for Theoretical Physics with Exotic Nuclei (JUSTIPEN) was established between U.S. and Japanese scientists to facilitate theoretical investigations of exotic nuclei in the context of world-wide experimental efforts. Hosted by RIKEN and the University of Tokyo, JUSTIPEN is located at the RIBF facility at RIKEN with support coming from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and from the Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics. In this talk, I will describe the general physics thrusts of JUSTIPEN and its continuing program.