EXPERIMENTAL ELEMENTARY PARTICLE PHYSICS (Mandelkern and Schultz)

We are working on projects at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL). In the summer of 1999 we will be preparing for a run of our charmonium experiment to start Oct, 1999. This will be a period of great activity at the lab and a student will have the opportunity to participate in the installation and testing of an experiment and interact with physicists and students from a number of universities and countries. The student will participate in this research effort onsite at FNAL.

The experiment is the study of the charmonium spectrum by detecting the annihilations of stored antiprotons with protons in a hydrogen gas jet. The charmonium system is a relatively simple example of the strong interaction, and bears great similarities to the hydrogen atom, the system in which some of the basic principles of quantum mechanics were first discovered and in which the electromagnetic interaction was fully explored.

We are also constructing an experiment to perform spectroscopy in antihydrogen following our successful search for antihydrogen atoms. It is possible that a student could participate in construction and testing of the apparatus for this experiment, working with particle detectors, data acquisition electronics and computers and analysis techniques. This may even be possible at UCI.

EXPERIMENTAL HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS (Lankford)

This research group is working on projects at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) in Switzerland, the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL).

At CERN this group is working on ATLAS, one of two detector experiments being built for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Scheduled to begin operation in 2005, the LHC will be by far the world's highest energy accelerator. Experiments there are likely to discover new particles and phenomena, and provide insights into questions such as why various particles have mass and why their masses are different. At the heart of ATLAS, silicon strip and pixel detectors will measure the tracks of the many charged particles produced by proton-proton collisions in the LHC. We are involved in the development and testing of these detectors and their readout electronics. An REU student would participate in these activities using new test facilities we are setting up at UCI.

At SLAC this group is working on BABAR, the detector for the recently completed PEP-II electron-positron collider. Scheduled to start taking data in May 1999, BABAR's main goal is to provide insights into the source of "CP violation". CP violation involves differences in the behavior of matter and anti-matter which have led to the excess of matter in today's Universe. The BABAR experiment is also well-suited for extensive studies of the physics of charm and bottom quarks and of tau leptons. We are working on the BABAR detector readout electronics, the CsI-crystal calorimeter which measures energies of particles produced in collisions at PEP-II, and on data analysis methods. An REU student would have opportunities to participate in studies of BABAR data at UCI to improve detector performance and to contribute to some of BABAR's first physics measurements.

At FNAL this group is working on the D0 Experiment at the Tevatron proton-antiproton collider. D0 was one of two experiments at FNAL which discovered the top quark in 1995. D0 and the Tevatron are presently being upgraded to obtain more, and higher quality, data. We have used D0 data to study the top quark and the W and Z bosons, and we are now working on the Silicon Microstrip Tracker (SMT) for the D0 Upgrade. An REU student would have opportunities at UCI to participate in (i) testing of SMT readout electronics, (ii) studies of data from tests of silicon strip detector in a high energy particle beam, and (iii) development of software algorithms to reconstruct physics events from SMT data.

EXPERIMENTAL PARTICLE-ASTROPHYSICS (Barwick)

This research group is working on the Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA) at the south pole, which is an international effort to build a high-energy neutrino telescope at the south pole with collaborators from the United States, Sweden, and Germany. The detector consists of strings of photomultiplier tubes (PMT) buried in the icecap at depths of one to two kilometers. The PMTs are used to detect the Cerenkov radiation generated by muons created by high-energy neutrino interactions in the icecap. The detector is designed to detect neutrinos in the energy range between 0.3 TeV and 100 Tev and measure their direction with an accuracy of one degree. The current work include the analysis of data taken with the current detector, and preparation of hardware and software that will deployed at the south pole during the next austral summer.

Depending on talents or interests, the REU student would help to develop a sophisticated data acquisition system, an optical fiber based communications link for fast analog signals, or a detector simulation package, which would be used to evaluate detector strategies.

WAVEFRONT SENSING AND LARGE TELESCOPES (Gary Chanan)

Professor Chanan's group has designed and built wavefront sensors for the world's largest optical telescopes - the two 10 meter Keck Telescopes in Hawaii and the 5 meter Hale Telescope on Mount Palomar. These instruments can detect wavefront distortions with amplitudes of less than 100 nanometers over these large apertures, equivalent to slope errors of less than one hundredth of an arcsecond. These devices find applications in correcting the figures of the telescope mirrors, and also in the emerging field of adaptive optics, where one tries to compensate in real time for the atmosphere-induced wavefront distortions which limit ground-based observations at optical (and infrared) wavelengths.

There is an opportunity for student involvement, which would include work with image processing, algorithm development and data analysis.

HIGH ENERGY ASTROPHYSICS (Gaurang Yodh)

The REU student working with Professor Yodh will help analyze the properties of a new gamma ray telescope: Milagro. This instrument, currently under construction in the Jamez Mountains near Los Alamos, New Mexico, is designed to search for astrophysically interesting high energy gamma ray signals in the energy range between 100 Gev and 50 Tev, from sources such as active galactic nuclei, the sun, and gamma ray bursts. The detector system is a large pond (80 meters by 60 meters, 8 meters deep) at an elevation of 8700 feet, instrumented with photomultiplier tubes to detect Cerenkov radiation generated by gamma ray showers. The REU student working on this project will also learn about performance testing and encapsulation of these photomultiplier tubes.

ANALYSIS OF DATA FROM THE DIII-D TOKAMAK (William Heidbrink)

Most of Professor Heidbrink's research involves studies of "fast" ions in tokamak experiments. The research is conducted on the leading magnetic fusion facility in the USA, the DIII-D tokamak in San Diego. The "fast" ions, which are more energetic than the more numerous thermal ions, can be produced in fusion reactions, by injection of neutral beams, or by radio-frequency heating.

The specific project for this summer is an analysis project called "Accurate Measurements of the Pitch-Angle Scattering Rate." Data acquired in 1997 will be analyzed and prepared for publication. The student will modify and use computer software to perform this analysis. Although the principal thrust is the project is computational, the student will also tour DIII-D and assist with the hardware that originally acquired the data in ongoing experiments.

MODELING OF BRAIN FUNCTIONS (Gordon Shaw)

Professor Shaw is a theoretical physicist who is developing models of brain function based on analogies with physical spin systems. Research in Shaw's brain theory laboratory is based on his highly structured neural model of the cortex (which was developed from highly structured physical spin system analogies). Learning, memory and "higher brain functions" are studied through computer simulations and have led to successful human behavioral studies testing predictions from the model. Symmetries in the spatial-temporal firing patterns in the model play a key role in Shaw's work. A student working on this project should have extensive programming experience in C on a Sun workstation or on a Mac computer.

INVESTIGATING THE STAR FORMATION HISTORIES OF NEARBY GALAXIES (Tammy Smecker-Hane)

Professor Smecker-Hane is an astronomer and astrophysicist whose research focuses on determining the star formation and chemical evolution histories of nearby galaxies, and creating

theoretical models to understand why they have evolved that way. When working with her over the summer, students may get a chance to go the Keck Telescopes in Hawaii. Most of the students' research work will involve reducing and analyzing images of star fields in other galaxies that have already been obtained with other telescopes. In the process, the student will learn about CCD imaging, and how to use UNIX computers and IRAF (the Image Reduction and Analysis Facility, used by astronomers to reduce and analyze many types of astronomical data). By measuring the brightness and colors of stars in these fields they will help determine how the galaxies have evolved. This type of research is sometimes likened to ``galactic paleontology'' because every low mass star that ever formed in these galaxies is still there today, and we can determine what the galaxy's star-formation history has been from the beginning of time to the present day by studying the numbers of the stars as a function of mass, age, and chemical composition.

BEAM-PLASMA PHYSICS (Eusebio Garate)

We are studying atmospheric pressure plasma discharges. The plasma discharge is generated using a pin array that can be biased DC, AC or pulsed. The discharge can be generated in a variety of gases, typically air, helium, argon and mixtures. A student participating in this research would be involved in measuring the plasma density and in air discharges, determining the constituent molecules formed in the plasma.

NONLINEAR DYNAMICS (Michael Dennin)

The research in my group focuses on nonequilibrium systems. Nonequilibrium systems are systems that are driven out of thermodynamic equilibrium by some external force, such as pressure gradients, temperature gradients, or external voltages. We are primarily concerned with two types of nonequilibrium systems: pattern forming systems and two dimensional flow of complex fluids. Pattern formation is concerned with the formation of regular or irregular spatial structures. A student working in this area would be responsible for making liquid crystal cells (these are completely analogous to liquid crystal displays) and image processing. The experiments are focused on furthering our understanding of spatio-temporal chaos. The study of complex fluids focuses on the behavior of technologically relevant materials such as foams, emulsions, and granular materials. The work uses a two-dimensional model system: Langmuir monolayers. These are surfactant molecules that are confined to the air-water interface. A student working in this area would learn how to make the monolayers, use our two-dimensional Couette viscometer, and also be involved in image processing.

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