Los Alamos National Laboratory
Capabilities: Science Pillars
Science Pillars: Harnessing our capabilities
The Laboratory has established the Science Pillars under four main themes to bring together the Laboratory's diverse array of scientific capabilities and expertise. The Science Pillar concept is the primary tool the Laboratory uses to manage our multidisciplinary scientific capabilities and activities.
Each Science Pillar allows the Laboratory to rapidly and effectively draw on the necessary scientific capabilities at Los Alamos National Laboratory, so we can address national security challenges as they arise and offer viable solutions.
Information, Science and Technology (IS&T)
Modern computational science (e.g., Monte Carlo methods) has its roots in the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. Today, a Los Alamos strength continues to be computational physics research, methods development, and applications that run on the world's most powerful computers to help solve the nation’s most urgent needs.
In IS&T, we are leveraging advances in theory, algorithms, and the exponential growth of high-performance computing to accelerate the integrative and predictive capability of the scientific method, in particular in the areas of data science at scale, computational co-design, and complex networks.
Principal Associate Directorate for Science, Technology & Engineering (PADSTE)
- Associate Directorate for Theory, Simulation, and Computation (ADTSC)
- Associate Directorate for Chemistry, Life, and Earth Science (ADCLES)
- Associate Directorate for Experimental Physical Sciences (ADEPS)
Principal Associate Directorate for Global Security (PADGS)
- Analytics, Intelligence and Technology Division (A)
- Intelligence and Space Research Division (ISR)
- Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Division (NEN)
Principal Associate Directorate for the Weapons Program (PADWP)
- X Computational Physics Division (XCP)
- X Theoretical Design Division (XTD)
Materials for the Future
At Los Alamos, we are transitioning from observing and exploiting the properties of materials to a science-based capability that creates materials with properties optimized for specific functions. We are pursuing the discovery science and engineering required to establish design principles, synthesis pathways, and manufacturing processes that control functionality in materials relevant to our missions.
Principal Associate Directorate for Science, Technology & Engineering (PADSTE)
- Associate Directorate for Experimental Physical Sciences (ADEPS)
- Materials Science and Technology Division (MST)
- Metallurgy Group (MST-6)
- Engineered Materials Group (MST-7)
- Materials Science in Radiation and Dynamics Extremes Group (MST-8)
- Material Physics and Application Division (MPA)
- Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (MPA-CINT)
- Neutron Science and Technology (P-23)
- Plasma Physics (P-24)
- Subatomic Physics (P-25)
- LANSCE Weapons Physics (P-27)
- Associate Directorate for Theory, Simulation, and Computation (ADTSC)
Principal Associate Directorate for the Weapons Program (PADWP)
- Weapon Engineering and Experiments (ADW)
- Explosive Science and Shock Physics Division (M)
- Shock and Detonation Physics Group (M-9)
- Lagrangian Codes (XCP-1)
- Primary Physics (XTD-PRI)
Nuclear and Particle Futures
Los Alamos is the premier laboratory in the United States for “all-things nuclear,” with capabilities that are grounded in its Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) and Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrotest (DARHT) facilities, its leadership in critical assembly work, and extensive capabilities in nuclear experiment, theory, and simulation. By integrating nuclear experiments, theory, and simulation, we are working to understand and engineer complex nuclear phenomena.
Principal Associate Directorate for Science, Technology & Engineering (PADSTE)
- Associate Directorate for Theory, Simulation, and Computation (ADTSC)
- Associate Directorate for Experimental Physical Sciences (ADEPS)
- Associate Directorate for Chemistry, Life, and Earth Sciences (ADCLES)
Principal Associate Directorate for the Weapons Program (PADWP)
- Weapons Physics Division (ADX)
- X Computational Physics Division (XCP)
- X Theoretical Design Division (XTD)
Principal Associate Directorate for Global Security (PADGS)
- Associate Directorate for Threat Identification and Response (ADTIR)
- Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Division (NEN)
Science of Signatures (SoS)
Signatures are the unique elements that allow us to locate threats within their environments and describe them (e.g., the pattern variation that lets us distinguish spinach from poison ivy). The Los Alamos scientific leadership in signatures extends from nuclear and radiological to chemical and materials, biological, energy, climate, and space signatures. Our scientific strategy is to discover new signatures, revolutionize the measurement of signatures, and engineer and deploy advanced signature-related technologies from the lab to the field.
Principal Associate Directorate for Science, Technology & Engineering (PADSTE)
- Applied Energy and Technology Division (AET)
- Associate Directorate for Chemistry, Life, and Earth Science (ADCLES)
- Associate Directorate for Experimental Physical Sciences (ADEPS)
Principal Associate Directorate for Global Security (PADGS)
- Associate Directorate for Threat Identification and Response (ADTIR)
- Intelligence and Space Research Division (ISR)
- Explosive Science and Shock Physics Division (M)
- Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Division (NEN)
Principal Associate Directorate for the Weapons Program (PADWP)
- Nuclear Threat Assessment Group (XTD-NTA)