Nuclear physics midterm plan in Italy: physics at INFN National Laboratories in Frascati

Abstract The INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati were established in 1954 to host an electro-synchrotron, the first particle accelerator built in Italy, and since then played a crucial role in the field of nuclear and particle physics. Within this historical tradition, a workshop was organized at LNF in the framework of the Nuclear Physics Midterm Plan in Italy, an initiative of the Nuclear Physics Division of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, to discuss a research program in nuclear physics in a time perspective ranging from five to ten years based on the existing facilities and on future initiatives as the EuPRAXIA project. The present report summarizes the outcome of the discussions which arose before and during the workshop, which were focused on two main topics: an extension of the physics program of the SIDDHARTA experiment, devoted to the study of the strong interactions in the strange sector through the investigation of the properties of kaonic atoms using DA $$\Phi$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>Φ</mml:mi> </mml:math> NE, and the development of a new research program in nuclear astrophysics to be carried out using the high-intensity lasers at LNF. The paper complements the analogue works of the Italian Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso and the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati-Detector session that described the scientific program foreseen in the next years in each of the laboratories of the “Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare” (INFN) and are summarized in a dedicated Focus Point.