Research Experiences for Undergraduates
Summer 2008
Vanderbilt University
Physics & Astronomy
Research Projects: Particle (LHC) and High-Energy Nuclear (RHIC) Physics
Study
of the Charm and Beauty Quarks
(Profs. Medford
Webster, Paul Sheldon, Will Johns)
This elementary particle physics (EPP) research group is investigating
fundamental questions about the structure and behaviour of the universe.
Their work provides information about the weak and strong forces (counterparts
to gravity and electromagnetism) and offers sensitive probes for new fundamental
phenomena. They are major contributors to two active experiments: the
FOCUS experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab),
near Chicago, Illinois, and the CMS experiment at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.
The CMS experiment will operate at the highest energies ever achieved
for particle collisions. They hope to find new and exotic states of matter
that shed light on the physics described above. The FOCUS experiment has
finished data taking; the group is still producing interesting results
on properties of particles containing a charm quark. Undergraduates in
the group have performed published work on charm decays from FOCUS, worked
on detector development, and participated in large scale computing projects.
An REU student could be expected to participate on FOCUS or perform physics
simulations for CMS.
Relativistic
Heavy Ion Collisions
(Profs. Julia
Velkovska, S.
Victoria Greene, Charles
Maguire)
Properties of nuclear matter at extreme temperatures and energy densities
are being investigated at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at
Brookhaven National Laboratory. Recent discoveries at RHIC show that the
matter produced in high energy collisions of heavy ions exhibits interesting
collective behavior. Contrary to expectations the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP)
produced at RHIC does not behave like a gas of non-interacting quarks
and gluons, but rather - a liquid with very low viscosity. Studying the
properties of QGP is crucial for understanding the state of matter at
the beginning of the Universe. An important aspect of these studies is
the investigation of the particle production mechanisms, their collective
flow and the correlations between them. Experimentally, it is important
to identify the particles coming out of the collisions and to study the
flow as a function of the particle mass and momentum. The relativistic
heavy ion group at Vanderbilt has been involved in an upgrade of the PHENIX
detector that will greatly enhance the particle identification capabilities
at high momentum. We have built a high-resolution Time of Flight system
based on multi-gap resistive plate chambers. The students will be involved
in the calibration, data reconstruction and the first physics analysis
using this new detector system. They will have a chance to learn about
cutting edge detector, electronics and computing systems and will gain
experience in working within a large scientific collaboration.
Neutrino
Oscillations
(Prof.
David Ernst)
The phenomenon of neutrino oscillations has been established by a number
of experiments. This phenomenon is the only existing experimentally measured
physics that lies outside the standard model of particle physics. A model
of the essential physics contained in each existing experiment has been
developed and used to analyze the world's data. Since the underlying physics
is that of a three state quantum mechanical system, an undergraduate student
can readily learn the necessary mathematical ingredients. Projects for
future work could include adding a future experiment to the model and
investigating the implications of possible results, or improving on the
model of one of the existing experiments, or calibrating the model results
against a full analysis code which is being developed, or producing a
video which depicts in a visually dramatic way the oscillation of the
neutrinos as they occur in each of the experiments, or assisting in the
writing of an article for the American Journal of Physics which would
present neutrino oscillations at a level accessible to the undergraduate
physics major.
These
web pages are copyrighted by Vanderbilt University, and are based upon
work supported by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings,
and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the authors
and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Vanderbilt Physics and Astronomy
Vanderbilt
University is located near downtown Nashville.
Program details:
-
Nine weeks
-
Stipend $3,600
-
Travel, housing, meals provided
Application
deadline:
March 15, 2008
Program dates:
May 26 - July 26