DIVISIONS

AANL's mission is to conduct advanced research and to develop new technologies with a particular emphasis on applications in nuclear medicine and accelerator research, materials research, particle and cosmic ray research, theoretical advances, computational advances in Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, and related basic and applied sciences with emphasis on innovation and technology transfer solving open challenges in defence of the homeland in Armenia, in agriculture, in climate change, and other needs of the RA economy.

Among the key achievements of YerPhI were the discovery of protons and neutrons in cosmic rays, and the establishment of the first evidence of existence of the particles with masses between that of muons and protons. The establishment of a cosmic ray station on Mount Aragats, 3250m above the sea level, was one of the contributing initiatives for the development of particle physics in Armenia. Further in 1960, another cosmic ray station was founded in Nor Amberd. These two stations are still fundamental for the researches run by AANL Cosmic Ray Department.

The construction of a 6-GeV electron synchrotron accomplished in 1967 became an important landmark in the history of the institute being first particle accelerator in Armenia (named “Arus”). In the course of 1970-1991 years the synchrotron was operated with energies up to 4,5- GeV thus providing the Experimental Physics Division with significant results, including: hadronic properties of photons in π- meson photo-production on nuclei; structures of nucleon resonances in multi-polarization experiments, structure and characteristics of nuclear matter, important properties of X-ray transition radiation and channelling in monocrystals. It is for these achievements that since 1985 the scientists from Yerevan Physics Institute has been efficiently engaged with large international collaborations.

One of the traditional research directions for YerPhI was the development of new particle detectors. Wide spark chambers and transition radiation detectors created in YerPhI are good examples of developing experimental techniques in the world.