Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) physicist Cole Pruitt has been awarded the 2025 Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) Achievement Award for Early Career Researchers in theoretical nuclear physics. The national honor recognizes early-career scientists who have made significant contributions to nuclear physics research at or in connection with FRIB.
Pruitt, a staff scientist in LLNL's Design Physics Division, was selected for his work developing uncertainty-quantified optical model potentials, tools that improve predictions of how nuclear reactions unfold, especially in rare, short-lived systems.
"Optical model potentials help estimate the forces that protons and neutrons experience as they move through atomic nuclei during nuclear reactions," Pruitt said. "They're essential for simulating how these reactions behave."
While today's models perform well for stable nuclei, Pruitt's research focuses on improving their reliability for neutron-rich, unstable systems. His postdoctoral work at LLNL introduced uncertainty estimates into these models, making it possible to better predict how elements form in extreme environments such as neutron star mergers.
The approach also helps guide experimental priorities at FRIB by pointing to nuclei where new measurements are most likely to improve model accuracy.
"This is a significant achievement and speaks to Cole's innovative contributions to theoretical nuclear physics," said David Miller, physicist and group leader in the Design Physics Division. "Additionally, recognition by FRIB underscores the caliber of early-career talent here at Livermore."
Pruitt began developing this research framework while earning his Ph.D. in chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis. He joined LLNL in 2019 as a postdoctoral researcher in the Physical and Life Sciences Directorate before becoming a staff scientist in Design Physics, where he continues to contribute to LLNL's nuclear science and national security mission.
As part of the award, Pruitt will deliver an invited talk at the Low Energy Community Meeting this August, hosted by Texas A&M University.
Located at Michigan State University, FRIB is the leading low-energy nuclear physics accelerator facility in North America. It enables cutting-edge research in rare isotope science, with applications ranging from fundamental physics to astrophysics and nuclear energy.
