Collaborative Research: Development of a Particle Tracking System for the Qweak Experiment

College Of William And Mary, Williamsburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

The College of William and Mary will design and build the `Region 3' tracking chambers for the Qweak experiment at Jefferson Lab. This groundbreaking experiment will measure the weak charge of the proton, as a precision test of the energy scale dependence of the weak mixing angle, sin2(theta_W), thus providing a uniquely sensitive probe of physics beyond the Standard Model of fundamental physics. The Region 3 wire chambers are an essential component of the particle tracking system, which is needed in order to precisely measure the kinematics of the elastically scattered electrons, as well as for critical studies of experimental backgrounds. The chambers will consist of two sets of large (2 m long, 30 cm wide) vertical drift chambers for a total of 4 planes of x,y positions with delay-line readout, providing a position resolution on the order of 100 microns and an angular resolution of about 1.5 milliradians. The Region 3 project will have a substantial educational component, as both undergraduate and graduate students will be intimately involved in all phases: design, prototyping, construction and testing of the chambers. William & Mary has committed new funding support for this project for two entry-level graduate students for three years, providing tangible impact on graduate physics education. The project will be be ideal for generating topics for senior theses and summer research projects for undergraduate students.