Physics Division annual review, 1 April 1983 - 31 March 1984

The superconducting linear accelerator for heavy ions is discussed. The superconducting linac is expanded into a larger facility, the ATLAS. The research program, uses the unique properties of the present linac. Experiments are carried out on the importance of quasielastic and particularly neutron-transfer reactions as a dominant feature of near-Coulomb-barrier heavy-ion reactions. Nuclear properties at high angular momentum, heavy-ion fusion reactions, systematics of fission are studied by using the unique properties of the accelerator. The technology of radiofrequency superconductivity as applied to particle acceleration is developed. A new type of quarter-wave structure is constructed out of niobium and the feasibility of accelerating structures for very low-velocity particles is investigated.