The Extreme Light Infrastructure – Nuclear Physics Facility (ELI - NP): Project implementation and overview of the scientific program

International audienceThe European Strategic Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) has selected in 2006 a proposal based on ultra-intense laser fields with intensities reaching up to 10$^{22-23}$ W/cm2 called “ELI” for Extreme Light Infrastructure. The construction of a large-scale laser-centred, distributed pan-European research infrastructure, based on three pillars received the approval for funding in 2011-2012. The three pillars of the ELI facility are being built in Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. The Romanian pillar is ELI-Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP). Its mission covers scientific research at the frontier of knowledge involving two domains. The first one is laser-driven experiments related to nuclear physics, strong-field quantum electrodynamics and associated vacuum effects. The second is based on a Compton–backscattering high-brilliance and intense low-energy gamma beam (