2019 REU Students
Austin Batz
College of William & Mary
Mentor: Prof. Camillo Mariani.
Abstract: This analysis addressed comparing the data of (e, e′p) observation in Jefferson Lab Hall A experiment E12-14-012 to Monte Carlo (MC) models. The results include comparisons of the data and the MC distributions of various kinematical variables where the background has been removed from the data. The distributions are scaled based on the charge of the incident electron beam, as well as the efficiency of the detector.
Maitland Bowen
University of Michigan
Mentor: Prof. Patrick Huber.
Abstract: In this paper, we use neutrino fluxes measured from reactors and their cross sections to compute the energy spectra of 235U, 238U, 239Pu, and 241Pu, and determine and compare neutrino detection event counts using either IBD or CEνNS. This characterization will inform future detector choices and is directly applicable to various neutrino sources, including reactor neutrinos, spent fuel neutrinos, and geoneutrinos. The result is potentially useful in monitoring spent nuclear fuel and reactors, in support of nuclear nonproliferation safeguards objectives.
Jessica Christian
U of MD- Baltimore County
Mentor: Prof. Tommy O'Donnell.
Abstract: Secondary muons are high-energy particles created from the interaction of cosmic rays with atoms in Earth’s atmosphere. They are a major source of high-energy background interference for Virginia Tech’s high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector housed at the Kimballton Underground Research Facility (KURF) in Ripplemead, VA. Though muon interference is partially shielded by the rock overburden at KURF, our team works to integrate the HPGe detector with a two-layer muon detector to veto persistent radiation caused by muon events.
Grace Dunleavy
Drake College
Mentors: Prof. Shunsaku Horiuchi and Prof. Ian Shoemaker.
Abstract: By exploring the interaction between cosmic rays and dark matter, more can be learned about these interactions such as their cross sections, interaction lengths, and energy loss lengths for a variety of cosmic ray energies, including extragalactic cosmic rays of energies greater than 1015 eV. This project will examine the extent of the energy dependence on these characteristics of the interaction, and the impacts of this dependence. Models of these interactions can be plotted and compared to known standard model interactions, giving new information about these collisions at a variety of energies.
Andrew Gunsch
Coe College
Mentor: Prof. Bruce Vogelaar.
Abstract: The Neutrino Lattice Experiment (NuLat) is a novel neutrino detector made of 125 scintillating cubes. Due to its unique geometry, it is able to observe the topology of signals. Before data can be collected, the NuLat detector must be calibrated. One approach is calibrating to muon signals, for the average energy deposited by muons in a plastic scintillator is well-documented. The detector was designed to collect positron and neutron capture signals from the Inverse Beta Decay of an antineutrino, so the higher energy signals from muons would saturate the detector, clipping the signals and rendering the amplitudes unmeasurable.
Jacob Steenis
Grinnell College
Mentor: Prof. Jonathan Link
Abstract: This summer, the MicroCHANDLER particle detector was brought to the tandem accelerator at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory to measure the detector’s quenching factor using a beam of neutrons. Specifically, the goal was to obtain preliminary data to understand how MicroCHANDLER responds to protons that recoil off of fast neutrons.
Stephanie Toole
California State-Northridge
Mentor: Prof. Camillo Mariani
Abstract: Secondary muons are high-energy particles created from the interaction of cosmic rays with atoms in Earth’s atmosphere. They are a major source of high-energy background interference for Virginia Tech’s high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector housed at the Kimballton Underground Research Facility (KURF) in Ripplemead, VA. Though muon interference is partially shielded by the rock overburden at KURF, our team works to integrate the HPGe detector with a two-layer muon detector to veto persistent radiation caused by muon events.