High Energy Physics
by Rachel Houtz
Supervisors: Dr. Tim Bolton and Dr. Glenn Horton-Smith
Kansas State University Physics Department REU Program, sponsored by NSF
This page summarizes the research work I am doing for the summer of 2008 with Dr. Tim Bolton and Dr. Glenn Horton-Smith. I am working with other REU students Jon Graves, Jeremy Lund, and Alex George on a project that involves modeling the neutrino experiments going on at KamLAND and experiments that will be carried out at Double Chooz.
Below, I describe the Project Goals, my Research Progress, and will eventually post my Final Presentation and Final Report. I will talk about our weekly REU scientific Ethics class, taught by Prof. Bruce Glymour. Finally, I've included some Useful Links.
Research Project:
For my project, I’m modeling the background
radiation produced from the glass in the photomultiplier tubes in Double
Chooz. Here’s my Research
Progress.
I want to get accurate measurements of the
background radiation produced from radioactive elements in the glass of the
Photomultiplier tubes. When Double Chooz
is operational, these measurements will help researchers distinguish the
difference between a neutrino event (which we are interested in studying), and
an event that was a byproduct of radioactive decay from the glass (which isn’t
something we are interested in).
Final Presentation
About Me: I grew up in Northern California. I just finished my second year as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, where I’m an intended Physics Major. I have been interested in math and science since grade school, but I first got interested in studying physics after I read The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene.
Useful Links:
American Physical Society Statements on Ethics
