IRES: Student Participation in Photonuclear Physics Research at MAX-Lab, Sweden

University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, North Dartmouth MA

Investigators

Abstract

This IRES award provides undergraduate students associated with the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Bridgewater State University, Bristol and Cape Cod Community Colleges in Massachusetts as well as other colleges throughout the US Northeast, with the opportunity to participate in an international collaboration in experimental nuclear physics research at the MAX-lab facility located at Lund University in southern Sweden. This three-year award will support six students each year who will each spend 8-10 weeks during the summer at MAX-lab as a part of the collaboration. The project PI will travel with the students to Lund each summer to supervise and coordinate the student?s individual project, and will monitor their progress throughout the summer. Each student will also receive supervision and mentoring from members of the MAX-lab nuclear physics group as well as other members of the collaboration. The students will be involved in all aspects of the research being performed at MAX-lab, including equipment set-up, calibration, data taking and data analysis. Each student will write a project report and will have the opportunity to present the results of their efforts at local seminars and national conferences. The experiments the students will be involved in are being conducted by the PIONS@MAXLAB Collaboration. They make use of the MAX-lab Photon Tagging Facility together with the BUNI, CATS, DIANA and xSAL detector systems at MAX-lab to study the process of pion photoproduction from the proton and neutron. These measurements will provide data that are currently missing from the world?s database of this fundamental nuclear process. The results obtained will be compared with the predictions from theoretical models describing this process and will help address the question of describing the behavior of the proton and neutron in terms of the underlying quark structure. The student participants will receive training and mentoring from experienced international researchers that will help prepare them to operate successfully in a global environment. The connections developed through their efforts will help support on-going international cooperation. The project PI has demonstrated dedication and success in mentoring women students, an underrepresented group in experimental nuclear physics, and is committed to broadening the opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities in this project?s research plans.