The ELI-NP facility for nuclear physics

Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) is aiming to use extreme electromagnetic fields for nuclear physics research. The facility, currently under construction at Magurele-Bucharest, will comprise a high power laser system and a very brilliant gamma beam system. The technology involved in the construction of both systems is at the limits of the present-day's technological capabilities. The high power laser system will consist of two 10 PW lasers and it will produce intensities of up to 1023-1024 W/cm2. The gamma beam, produced via Compton backscattering of a laser beam on a relativistic electron beam, will be characterized by a narrow bandwidth (<0.5%) and tunable energy of up to almost 20 MeV. The research program of the facility covers a broad range of key topics in frontier fundamental physics and new nuclear physics. A particular attention is given to the development of innovative applications. In the present paper an overview of the project status and the overall performance characteristics of the main research equipment will be given. The main fundamental physics and applied research topics proposed to be studied at ELI-NP will also be briefly reviewed.