Tests of fundamental symmetries in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD)
Investigation for chiral symmetry restoration by a search for medium modifications of the &rho-meson in heavy nuclei. Initial measurements have been made with the E01-112 experiment at Jefferson Lab. With the 12 GeV upgrade, a search can be made for J/&Psi medium modifications.
Test of the axial U(1) symmetry in QCD by a high-precision measurement of the &pi0 -> gamma gamma decay via the Primakoff effect. The Primex experiment took this data in 2004. With a 12 GeV, the experiment can be extended to Primakoff eta and eta' production where there is a paucity of data.
Measurement of the &omega- and &phi-meson total hadronic cross sections from the absorption in various nuclei. The data is being extracted from the E01-112 data.
PROPOSALS
E01-112 "Photoproduction of Vector Mesons off Nuclei"
PR06-116 "Search for Modifications of Vector Meson Properties in Nuclei" (spokesperson)
CLAS Approved Analysis "Vector Meson Absorption in Nuclei"
Taught and graded the introductory physics laboratory for non-science majors. A majority of the experiments involved qualitative measurements conducted with computer-interfaced equipment. Topics covered in the course included kinematics, classical dynamics, thermodynamics, wave motion, and simple electricity and magnetism.
BEAMS Volunteer, Sept. 2005 - present
Volunteer with the Becoming Excited about Math and Science (BEAMS) program at Jefferson Lab. The program brings middle school students from public schools in the Newport News, VA area to the laboratory to participate in simple desktop experiments. Topics cover kinematics, thermodynamics, weather, and astronomy.
Active participant in the Primex experiment, a high-precision determination of the &pi0 lifetime by a measurement of the cross section of the Primakoff effect. This experiment was conducted in 2004 in Hall B at Jefferson Lab. My responsibilities were to install and maintain the veto detectors to discriminate between photons and charged paritcles incident on the hybrid calorimeter. After the data was taken, I have developed and written software for veto hit reconstruction. Moreover, I have lead the effort in developing the simulation software needed to calculate the detector acceptance and efficiencies.
My research focus has been a search for medium modifications of the &rho-meson in heavy nuclei. The data was taken in Hall B at Jefferson Lab in the Fall of 2002 during the g7 experiment (E01-112). Before the experiment, I organized and conducted a one-day test of rates in Hall B drift chambers when a high intensity photon beam was incident on a Pb target. During the data-taking, I was Run Coordinator for three weeks. I also assisted in an investigation of meson production mechanisms with linearly polarized photon beams of experiment E98-109.
Completed thesis (Low Energy Proton-Deuteron Elastic Scattering and the "Ay Puzzle") at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Edward Ludwig. Designed, organized, and lead experiments to study the three-nucleon system below the deuteron-breakup threshold with both polarized and unpolarized beams. Calibrated numerous polarimeters based on nuclear reactions for both polarized deuteron and proton beams in the energy range of 1.0 MeV to 14.0 MeV.
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Designed and assembled experiments with the following detectors: solid-state, silicon microstrip, and scintillators with photomultipliers.
Tested Hall B photon tagging system and effected the necessary hodoscope repairs.
Assembled photon trigger electronicsin Hall B for experiment E01-112.
Knowledge of NIM, CAMAC, Fastbus, and VME electronics.
Extensive experience programming in Fortran, C, C++, PAW, Root, MySQL, HTML, and GEANT.
Contributed to CLAS software development in a multi-user version controlled environment.
Installed Linux OSon numerous personal computers.
Operated FN tandem, low-energy electrostatic accelerator, direct extraction ion-source, and polarized ion source.
Leadership Skills
Act as on-site adviser to University of Massachusetts, Amherst graduate student working at the Primex Experiment at Jefferson Lab.
Hall B Real Photon Working Group Secretary from September 2001 to 2005.
Member of CLAS collaboration review committee for article ``A Kinematically Complete Measurement of the Proton Structure Function F2 in the Resonance Region and Evaluation of its Moments'', M. Osipenko, et al. (CLAS Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 67, 092001 (2003).
Committee member for the Real Photon Working Group to review the article ``Tensor Polarization of the &phi meson Photoproduced at High t'' K. McCormick, et al. (CLAS Collaboration), Phys. Rev. C 69, 032203(R) (2004).
Committee member to review the CLAS proposal ``Measurement of &pi+&pi- Photoproduction in Double-Polarization Experiments Using CLAS'' which was submitted to the Jefferson Lab 29th Program Advisory Committee.
HONORS AND AWARDS
Clyde Cowan Scholarship: The Catholic University of America (1990 - 1994)