Spring 2015

Particle accelerators have many useful applications for the public. A well know example would be isotope production for medical procedures. This talk will start with a description of a new accelerator scheme that will reduce the size and cost in comparison to conventional accelerators. This scheme is Direct Laser Acceleration, where an intense laser pulse in a plasma waveguide accelerates electrons. A description of the prototype apparatus will also be provided. The second part of the talk will cover another application of portable accelerators: active interrogation for fissionable material.

The Double Chooz Time Projection Chamber (DCTPC) project employs a set of directional fast neutron detectors that measure background neutron production at the Double Chooz reactor-based neutrino oscillation experiment's near (120 mwe) and far (300 mwe) halls. The DCTPC detectors are used to study the relationship between fast neutron production and rainfall, and will provide valuable neutron measurements as a function of depth, direction, and energy. I will present the latest results from the 60 liter DCTPC detector and discuss future opportunities with the device.

We all enjoy the daily benefits of technology.  Throughout recorded history, advances from the wheel to the smartphone have provided us with utility, convenience, and satisfaction, while new developments in applied fields like agriculture, medicine, and energy have contributed to longer, happier lives for men and women around the globe.  As scientists, we have deep-seated confidence in the power of research to incrementally improve the future ad infinitum.  But all this is preaching to the choir.  What does it look like when we seriously engage those who feel differently?  What do we say to those who fear some forms of technology, whether that means artificial intelligence or vaccines?  Under the assumption that these people are not simply foolish, but rather that there may be some validity in their concerns and some wisdom to be gained from them, I will overview the historical dialogue between the followers of science and an assortment of technological conservatives, pastoralists, and luddites.

PANDA and P2 are both medium energy experiments planned to run in Germany. This talk will focus on the current work being done by a grad student on the project.

The DarkLight experiment aims to search for a dark photon in the low mass region 10-100 MeV/c2. The process e−p → e−pe+e− will be studied by using the Jefferson Lab energy-recovering linac’s high-intensity 100 MeV, 1 MW electron beam incident on a gaseous hydrogen target. Full track reconstruction of the four-particle final state will be performed in order to search for a resonance on the e+-e− invariant mass spectrum. A Phase 1 DarkLight experiment is in preparation and will have the additional focus of making new Standard Model measurements at low energy and high intensity. The design of the complete (Phase 2) DarkLight experiment is currently in progress. An overview of the experiment will be presented.

Over 75 years after its initial proposal, neutrino-less double beta decay (0νββ) remains a daunting technical challenge in experimental particle physics today. However; the payoff for such a detection would be tremendous as it would reveal several elusive properties of the neutrino as well opening the door to several Beyond the Standard Model models. In this talk, I will cover the theoretical background framework for 0νββ decays moving into the history of 0νββ searches and finishing with the latest updated results from the CUORE collaboration.

Since beta decay was first observed, precise measurements of beta spectra have been used to probe the fundamental nature of the weak force. These experiments explored the weak force decades before W bosons were discovered or even theorized. Now, precision measurements of beta decay spectra are being used to search for physics beyond the Standard Model. I will discuss two recent experiments using ultracold neutrons, low energy neutrons which can be bottled and completely polarized, to do precise measurements of neutron beta decay spectrum parameters.

Having found the elusive Higgs boson, LHC experimentalists are off to look for the next "missing" particle. Recent theoretical advances have resulted in a suite of minimal simplified models for dark matter production that can be used to unify LHC measurements with limits from direct and indirect detection experiments. Jets resulting from initial state radiative processes in these models can be used to identify events with dark matter production. We shall discuss the different possible ISR particles and how to distinguish them. Finally, we shall go through the details of the latest CMS monojet analysis. 

I will discuss an experiment with a cool detector and a cool acronym that I first learned about while studying for Part III, which took on the challenge of directly observing the tau neutrino.  While a simple idea on paper, DONuT required novel detector and analysis techniques (including the revitalization of detection methods previous considered obsolete) that laid the foundations for several modern rare event experiments.

The standard derivation of neutrino oscillation is predicated on the assumption that all mass states have the same momenta.  A slightly more sophisticated derivation obtains the same result by dropping this assumption.  Both results, however, have kinematic assumptions built in.  There exist theoretical predictions where a carefully prepared neutrino beam would not see oscillations.

Plasma Theory involves charged fluids in magmetic fields which can lead to many interesting phenomena. One such is focused on in this talk.

Using the IsoDAR experiment to search for beyond the Standard Model phenomena. Sterile neutrinoes will be the focus of this talk.

The OLYMPUS Experiment collected data in 2012 to test if there is any asymmetry between the elastic electron-proton and positron-proton cross sections. One of the most impressive of OLYMPUS's feats, was that the time between its approval and its running was a mere 24 months. No experiment is perfectly planned, nor is any perfectly executed. While it can be considered a triumph to have walked away with a 4 inv. fb data set, the expedited schedule has lengthened the arduous process of extracting signal and squeezing down systematics. I'll discuss what you, as young graduate students, can do to avoid some of the mistakes that we inevitably made.