File:Gluetoolexample2.jpg

2009-05-08T18:35:50Z

Lamb:

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-05-08T18:35:01Z

Lamb:

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force, which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons create the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark pairs and baryons in their simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provide a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analogous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

One fundamental hypothesis in the field of strong-interaction nuclear physics is confinement, which explains how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. Confinement implies that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons has an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and is capable of being independently excited. The energy and mode structure of the excitations give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately lead to confinement.

The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called “exotic mesons.” The experiment will map these mesons by producing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distribution of their decay particles. The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a high-energy electron beam from the US Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, using the process of coherent bremsstrahlung. Coherent bremsstrahlung refers to electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a diamond crystal. After the electrons emerge from the diamond, their energies are measured in a magnetic spectrometer called the “tagger”, which “tags” the energy of the photons produced in the diamond as the difference between the pre- and post-bremsstrahlung electron energies.

The tagger is a major component in the engineering design of GlueX. Members of the nuclear physics group at UConn have received funding from the US Department of Energy for the design and prototyping of electron detectors for the tagger. The design goals of this project include selection of optical fibers and waveguides for the electron detectors, the mechanical design and machining of a light-sealed case to contain the detectors, and the development of techniques for gluing them and mounting them on a precise remote-controlled alignment rail system. A prototype of the tagging fiber detector is currently being constructed, and will be tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in January 2010.

==Summary of Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg|right|Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

My work over the Spring 2009 semester can be categorized into four main topics:

'''1. Final CAD Renderings of the Microscope Enclosure'''

I define a "final" CAD file to be one that has both 3d and 2d views, and is fully-dimensioned to ANSI standards.

A final CAD file is ready to be printed and submitted to the machine shop for manufacturing and construction.

This semester I finalized the following files:

a) Base Plate - for the base of the microscope enclosure.

b) Top Plate - for the top of the microscope enclosure.

c) New Gluing Apparatus - a collaborative project that I took charge of.

'''2. Training for the Operation of CNC Machines'''

I continued working closely with Alan Chasse in the UConn Physics Machine Shop, and together we machined and constructed the new gluing apparatus. We began work on the base plate, but by the end of the semester all of the necessary parts for this had yet to be obtained, so our CNC work was delayed. Plans for machining the top plate are in the works for as soon as the base plate is done.

Working with CNC machines is something that I have wanted to learn, so I really enjoyed getting to use them directly this semester. I hope to continue doing work like this for my project in the future.

The primary machine that I used was a Bridgeport Milling Machine.

'''3. Training for and Investigation into Fiber Gluing Techniques'''

Carl Nettleton left our lab group in February 2009, and I took over his portion of work for the GlueX project.

I completed three successful gluing sessions of fibers in February and March, and worked through all other aspects of the process as "practice runs" under Carl's supervision. I also completed the UConn Environmental Health and Safety class to work with and maintain the chemicals used in our lab.

The majority of my work with the fiber arrays this semester related to the design and fabrication of a new gluing apparatus. It is my hope (as well as my experienced prediction) that this apparatus, coupled with the new optical epoxy mixture, will produce results that are far superior to the previous method used for gluing the optical wave guides to the scintillators.

'''4. "Frontiers of Undergraduate Research" Poster Presentation'''

The "Frontiers" poster presentation took place on April 17th and 18th, but I began preparations for it in late January. I submitted a formal abstract of my project, which was subsequently accepted to participate in the event. All poster design was done electronically using Microsoft Publisher 2007, and the posters were printed on the new HP poster printer in our lab.

My poster specifically addressed the main points of my work thus far in the lab: My abstract, the underlying physics of the GlueX project, my work with TurboCad, my work with the optical fibers, and my increasing use of the CNC machines. It was a total success.

==CAD & CNC Work==

==Preparing, Gluing, and Finishing Fibers==

==Frontiers==

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-05-01T01:31:46Z

Lamb: /* Summary of Spring 2009 Work */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force, which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons create the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark pairs and baryons in their simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provide a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analogous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

One fundamental hypothesis in the field of strong-interaction nuclear physics is confinement, which explains how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. Confinement implies that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons has an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and is capable of being independently excited. The energy and mode structure of the excitations give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately lead to confinement.

The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called “exotic mesons.” The experiment will map these mesons by producing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distribution of their decay particles. The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a high-energy electron beam from the US Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, using the process of coherent bremsstrahlung. Coherent bremsstrahlung refers to electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a diamond crystal. After the electrons emerge from the diamond, their energies are measured in a magnetic spectrometer called the “tagger”, which “tags” the energy of the photons produced in the diamond as the difference between the pre- and post-bremsstrahlung electron energies.

The tagger is a major component in the engineering design of GlueX. Members of the nuclear physics group at UConn have received funding from the US Department of Energy for the design and prototyping of electron detectors for the tagger. The design goals of this project include selection of optical fibers and waveguides for the electron detectors, the mechanical design and machining of a light-sealed case to contain the detectors, and the development of techniques for gluing them and mounting them on a precise remote-controlled alignment rail system. A prototype of the tagging fiber detector is currently being constructed, and will be tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in January 2010.

==Summary of Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg|right|Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

My work over the Spring 2009 semester can be categorized into four main topics:

'''1. Final CAD Renderings of the Microscope Enclosure'''

I define a "final" CAD file to be one that has both 3d and 2d views, and is fully-dimensioned to ANSI standards.

A final CAD file is ready to be printed and submitted to the machine shop for manufacturing and construction.

This semester I finalized the following files:

a) Base Plate - for the base of the microscope enclosure.

b) Top Plate - for the top of the microscope enclosure.

c) New Gluing Apparatus - a collaborative project that I took charge of.

'''2. Training for the Operation of CNC Machines'''

I continued working closely with Alan Chasse in the UConn Physics Machine Shop, and together we machined and constructed the new gluing apparatus. We began work on the base plate, but by the end of the semester all of the necessary parts for this had yet to be obtained, so our CNC work was delayed. Plans for machining the top plate are in the works for as soon as the base plate is done.

Working with CNC machines is something that I have wanted to learn, so I really enjoyed getting to use them directly this semester. I hope to continue doing work like this for my project in the future.

The primary machine that I used was a Bridgeport Milling Machine.

'''3. Training for and Investigation into Fiber Gluing Techniques'''

Carl Nettleton left our lab group in February 2009, and I took over his portion of work for the GlueX project.

I completed three successful gluing sessions of fibers in February and March, and worked through all other aspects of the process as "practice runs" under Carl's supervision. I also completed the UConn Environmental Health and Safety class to work with and maintain the chemicals used in our lab.

The majority of my work with the fiber arrays this semester related to the design and fabrication of a new gluing apparatus. It is my hope (as well as my experienced prediction) that this apparatus, coupled with the new optical epoxy mixture, will produce results that are far superior to the previous method used for gluing the optical wave guides to the scintillators.

'''4. "Frontiers of Undergraduate Research" Poster Presentation'''

The "Frontiers" poster presentation took place on April 17th and 18th, but I began preparations for it in late January. I submitted a formal abstract of my project, which was subsequently accepted to participate in the event. All poster design was done electronically using Microsoft Publisher 2007, and the posters were printed on the new HP poster printer in our lab.

My poster specifically addressed the main points of my work thus far in the lab: My abstract, the underlying physics of the GlueX project, my work with TurboCad, my work with the optical fibers, and my increasing use of the CNC machines. It was a total success.

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-05-01T01:31:10Z

Lamb: /* Summary of Spring 2009 Work */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force, which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons create the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark pairs and baryons in their simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provide a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analogous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

One fundamental hypothesis in the field of strong-interaction nuclear physics is confinement, which explains how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. Confinement implies that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons has an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and is capable of being independently excited. The energy and mode structure of the excitations give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately lead to confinement.

The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called “exotic mesons.” The experiment will map these mesons by producing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distribution of their decay particles. The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a high-energy electron beam from the US Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, using the process of coherent bremsstrahlung. Coherent bremsstrahlung refers to electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a diamond crystal. After the electrons emerge from the diamond, their energies are measured in a magnetic spectrometer called the “tagger”, which “tags” the energy of the photons produced in the diamond as the difference between the pre- and post-bremsstrahlung electron energies.

The tagger is a major component in the engineering design of GlueX. Members of the nuclear physics group at UConn have received funding from the US Department of Energy for the design and prototyping of electron detectors for the tagger. The design goals of this project include selection of optical fibers and waveguides for the electron detectors, the mechanical design and machining of a light-sealed case to contain the detectors, and the development of techniques for gluing them and mounting them on a precise remote-controlled alignment rail system. A prototype of the tagging fiber detector is currently being constructed, and will be tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in January 2010.

==Summary of Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg|right|Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

My work over the Spring 2009 semester can be categorized into four main topics:

'''1. Final CAD Renderings of the Microscope Enclosure'''

I define a "final" CAD file to be one that has both 3d and 2d views, and is fully-dimensioned to ANSI standards.

A final CAD file is ready to be printed and submitted to the machine shop for manufacturing and construction.

This semester I finalized the following files:

a) Base Plate - for the base of the microscope enclosure.

b) Top Plate - for the top of the microscope enclosure.

c) New Gluing Apparatus - a collaborative project that I took charge of.

'''2. Training for the Operation of CNC Machines'''

I continued working closely with Alan Chasse in the UConn Physics Machine Shop, and together we machined and constructed the new gluing apparatus. We began work on the base plate, but by the end of the semester all of the necessary parts for this had yet to be obtained, so our CNC work was delayed. Plans for machining the top plate are in the works for as soon as the base plate is done.

Working with CNC machines is something that I have wanted to learn, so I really enjoyed getting to use them directly this semester. I hope to continue doing work like this for my project in the future.

[[Image:IMG_2142.jpg]]

The primary machine that I used was a Bridgeport Milling Machine.

'''3. Training for and Investigation into Fiber Gluing Techniques'''

Carl Nettleton left our lab group in February 2009, and I took over his portion of work for the GlueX project.

I completed three successful gluing sessions of fibers in February and March, and worked through all other aspects of the process as "practice runs" under Carl's supervision. I also completed the UConn Environmental Health and Safety class to work with and maintain the chemicals used in our lab.

The majority of my work with the fiber arrays this semester related to the design and fabrication of a new gluing apparatus. It is my hope (as well as my experienced prediction) that this apparatus, coupled with the new optical epoxy mixture, will produce results that are far superior to the previous method used for gluing the optical wave guides to the scintillators.

'''4. "Frontiers of Undergraduate Research" Poster Presentation'''

The "Frontiers" poster presentation took place on April 17th and 18th, but I began preparations for it in late January. I submitted a formal abstract of my project, which was subsequently accepted to participate in the event. All poster design was done electronically using Microsoft Publisher 2007, and the posters were printed on the new HP poster printer in our lab.

My poster specifically addressed the main points of my work thus far in the lab: My abstract, the underlying physics of the GlueX project, my work with TurboCad, my work with the optical fibers, and my increasing use of the CNC machines. It was a total success.

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T21:52:25Z

Lamb: /* Summary of Spring 2009 Work */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force, which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons create the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark pairs and baryons in their simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provide a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analogous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

One fundamental hypothesis in the field of strong-interaction nuclear physics is confinement, which explains how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. Confinement implies that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons has an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and is capable of being independently excited. The energy and mode structure of the excitations give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately lead to confinement.

The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called “exotic mesons.” The experiment will map these mesons by producing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distribution of their decay particles. The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a high-energy electron beam from the US Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, using the process of coherent bremsstrahlung. Coherent bremsstrahlung refers to electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a diamond crystal. After the electrons emerge from the diamond, their energies are measured in a magnetic spectrometer called the “tagger”, which “tags” the energy of the photons produced in the diamond as the difference between the pre- and post-bremsstrahlung electron energies.

The tagger is a major component in the engineering design of GlueX. Members of the nuclear physics group at UConn have received funding from the US Department of Energy for the design and prototyping of electron detectors for the tagger. The design goals of this project include selection of optical fibers and waveguides for the electron detectors, the mechanical design and machining of a light-sealed case to contain the detectors, and the development of techniques for gluing them and mounting them on a precise remote-controlled alignment rail system. A prototype of the tagging fiber detector is currently being constructed, and will be tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in January 2010.

==Summary of Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg|right|Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

My work over the Spring 2009 semester can be categorized into four main topics:

'''1. Final CAD Renderings of the Microscope Enclosure'''

I define a "final" CAD file to be one that has both 3d and 2d views, and is fully-dimensioned to ANSI standards.

A final CAD file is ready to be printed and submitted to the machine shop for manufacturing and construction.

This semester I finalized the following files:

a) Base Plate - for the base of the microscope enclosure.

b) Top Plate - for the top of the microscope enclosure.

c) New Gluing Apparatus - a collaborative project that I took charge of.

'''2. Training for the Operation of CNC Machines'''

I continued working closely with Alan Chasse in the UConn Physics Machine Shop, and together we machined and constructed the new gluing apparatus. We began work on the base plate, but by the end of the semester all of the necessary parts for this had yet to be obtained, so our CNC work was delayed. Plans for machining the top plate are in the works for as soon as the base plate is done.

Working with CNC machines is something that I have wanted to learn, so I really enjoyed getting to use them directly this semester. I hope to continue doing work like this for my project in the future.

The primary machine that I used was a Bridgeport Milling Machine.

'''3. Training for and Investigation into Fiber Gluing Techniques'''

Carl Nettleton left our lab group in February 2009, and I took over his portion of work for the GlueX project.

I completed three successful gluing sessions of fibers in February and March, and worked through all other aspects of the process as "practice runs" under Carl's supervision. I also completed the UConn Environmental Health and Safety class to work with and maintain the chemicals used in our lab.

The majority of my work with the fiber arrays this semester related to the design and fabrication of a new gluing apparatus. It is my hope (as well as my experienced prediction) that this apparatus, coupled with the new optical epoxy mixture, will produce results that are far superior to the previous method used for gluing the optical wave guides to the scintillators.

'''4. "Frontiers of Undergraduate Research" Poster Presentation'''

The "Frontiers" poster presentation took place on April 17th and 18th, but I began preparations for it in late January. I submitted a formal abstract of my project, which was subsequently accepted to participate in the event. All poster design was done electronically using Microsoft Publisher 2007, and the posters were printed on the new HP poster printer in our lab.

My poster specifically addressed the main points of my work thus far in the lab: My abstract, the underlying physics of the GlueX project, my work with TurboCad, my work with the optical fibers, and my increasing use of the CNC machines. It was a total success.

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T21:48:16Z

Lamb: /* Summary of Spring 2009 Work */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force, which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons create the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark pairs and baryons in their simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provide a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analogous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

One fundamental hypothesis in the field of strong-interaction nuclear physics is confinement, which explains how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. Confinement implies that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons has an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and is capable of being independently excited. The energy and mode structure of the excitations give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately lead to confinement.

The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called “exotic mesons.” The experiment will map these mesons by producing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distribution of their decay particles. The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a high-energy electron beam from the US Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, using the process of coherent bremsstrahlung. Coherent bremsstrahlung refers to electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a diamond crystal. After the electrons emerge from the diamond, their energies are measured in a magnetic spectrometer called the “tagger”, which “tags” the energy of the photons produced in the diamond as the difference between the pre- and post-bremsstrahlung electron energies.

The tagger is a major component in the engineering design of GlueX. Members of the nuclear physics group at UConn have received funding from the US Department of Energy for the design and prototyping of electron detectors for the tagger. The design goals of this project include selection of optical fibers and waveguides for the electron detectors, the mechanical design and machining of a light-sealed case to contain the detectors, and the development of techniques for gluing them and mounting them on a precise remote-controlled alignment rail system. A prototype of the tagging fiber detector is currently being constructed, and will be tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in January 2010.

==Summary of Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg|right|Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

My work over the Spring 2009 semester can be categorized into four main topics:

'''1. Final CAD Renderings of the Microscope Enclosure'''

I define a "final" CAD file to be one that has both 3d and 2d views, and is fully-dimensioned to ANSI standards.

A final CAD file is ready to be printed and submitted to the machine shop for manufacturing and construction.

This semester I finalized the following files:

a) Base Plate - for the base of the microscope enclosure.

b) Top Plate - for the top of the microscope enclosure.

c) New Gluing Apparatus - a collaborative project that I took charge of.

'''2. Training for the Operation of CNC Machines'''

I continued working closely with Alan Chasse in the UConn Physics Machine Shop, and together we machined and constructed the new gluing apparatus. We began work on the base plate, but by the end of the semester all of the necessary parts for this had yet to be obtained, so our CNC work was delayed. Plans for machining the top plate are in the works for as soon as the base plate is done.

Working with CNC machines is something that I have wanted to learn, so I really enjoyed getting to use them directly this semester. I hope to continue doing work like this for my project in the future.

The primary machine that I used was a Bridgeport Milling Machine.

'''3. Training for and Investigation into Fiber Gluing Techniques'''

Carl Nettleton left our lab group in February 2009, and I took over his portion of work for the GlueX project.

I completed three successful gluing sessions of fibers in February and March, and worked through all other aspects of the process as "practice runs" under Carl's supervision. I also completed the UConn Environmental Health and Safety class to work with and maintain the chemicals used in our lab.

The majority of my work with the fiber arrays this semester related to the design and fabrication of a new gluing apparatus. It is my hope (as well as my experienced prediction) that this apparatus, coupled with the new optical epoxy mixture, will produce results that are far superior to the previous method used for gluing the optical wave guides to the scintillators.

'''4. "Frontiers of Undergraduate Research" Poster Presentation'''

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T21:43:09Z

Lamb: /* Summary of Spring 2009 Work */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force, which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons create the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark pairs and baryons in their simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provide a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analogous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

One fundamental hypothesis in the field of strong-interaction nuclear physics is confinement, which explains how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. Confinement implies that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons has an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and is capable of being independently excited. The energy and mode structure of the excitations give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately lead to confinement.

The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called “exotic mesons.” The experiment will map these mesons by producing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distribution of their decay particles. The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a high-energy electron beam from the US Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, using the process of coherent bremsstrahlung. Coherent bremsstrahlung refers to electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a diamond crystal. After the electrons emerge from the diamond, their energies are measured in a magnetic spectrometer called the “tagger”, which “tags” the energy of the photons produced in the diamond as the difference between the pre- and post-bremsstrahlung electron energies.

The tagger is a major component in the engineering design of GlueX. Members of the nuclear physics group at UConn have received funding from the US Department of Energy for the design and prototyping of electron detectors for the tagger. The design goals of this project include selection of optical fibers and waveguides for the electron detectors, the mechanical design and machining of a light-sealed case to contain the detectors, and the development of techniques for gluing them and mounting them on a precise remote-controlled alignment rail system. A prototype of the tagging fiber detector is currently being constructed, and will be tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in January 2010.

==Summary of Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg|right|Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

My work over the Spring 2009 semester can be categorized into four main topics:

'''1. Final CAD Renderings of the Microscope Enclosure'''

I define a "final" CAD file to be one that has both 3d and 2d views, and is fully-dimensioned to ANSI standards.

A final CAD file is ready to be printed and submitted to the machine shop for manufacturing and construction.

This semester I finalized the following files:

a) Base Plate - for the base of the microscope enclosure.

b) Top Plate - for the top of the microscope enclosure.

c) New Gluing Apparatus - a collaborative project that I took charge of.

'''2. Training for the Operation of CNC Machines'''

I continued working closely with Alan Chasse in the UConn Physics Machine Shop, and together we machined and constructed the new gluing apparatus. We began work on the base plate, but by the end of the semester all of the necessary parts for this had yet to be obtained, so our CNC work was delayed. Plans for machining the top plate are in the works for as soon as the base plate is done.

Working with CNC machines is something that I have wanted to learn, so I really enjoyed getting to use them directly this semester. I hope to continue doing work like this for my project in the future.

The primary machine that I used was a Bridgeport Milling Machine.

'''3. Training for and Investigation into Fiber Gluing Techniques'''

'''4. "Frontiers of Undergraduate Research" Poster Presentation'''

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T21:39:38Z

Lamb: /* Summary of Spring 2009 Work */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force, which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons create the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark pairs and baryons in their simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provide a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analogous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

One fundamental hypothesis in the field of strong-interaction nuclear physics is confinement, which explains how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. Confinement implies that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons has an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and is capable of being independently excited. The energy and mode structure of the excitations give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately lead to confinement.

The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called “exotic mesons.” The experiment will map these mesons by producing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distribution of their decay particles. The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a high-energy electron beam from the US Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, using the process of coherent bremsstrahlung. Coherent bremsstrahlung refers to electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a diamond crystal. After the electrons emerge from the diamond, their energies are measured in a magnetic spectrometer called the “tagger”, which “tags” the energy of the photons produced in the diamond as the difference between the pre- and post-bremsstrahlung electron energies.

The tagger is a major component in the engineering design of GlueX. Members of the nuclear physics group at UConn have received funding from the US Department of Energy for the design and prototyping of electron detectors for the tagger. The design goals of this project include selection of optical fibers and waveguides for the electron detectors, the mechanical design and machining of a light-sealed case to contain the detectors, and the development of techniques for gluing them and mounting them on a precise remote-controlled alignment rail system. A prototype of the tagging fiber detector is currently being constructed, and will be tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in January 2010.

==Summary of Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg|right|Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

My work over the Spring 2009 semester can be categorized into four main topics:

'''1. Final CAD Renderings of the Microscope Enclosure'''

I define a "final" CAD file to be one that has both 3d and 2d views, and is fully-dimensioned to ANSI standards.

A final CAD file is ready to be printed and submitted to the machine shop for manufacturing and construction.

This semester I finalized the following files:

a) Base Plate - for the base of the microscope enclosure.

b) Top Plate - for the top of the microscope enclosure.

c) New Gluing Apparatus - a collaborative project that I took charge of.

'''2. Training for the Operation of CNC Machines'''

'''3. Training for and Investigation into Fiber Gluing Techniques'''

'''4. "Frontiers of Undergraduate Research" Poster Presentation'''

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T21:34:03Z

Lamb: /* Summary of Spring 2009 Work */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force, which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons create the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark pairs and baryons in their simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provide a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analogous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

One fundamental hypothesis in the field of strong-interaction nuclear physics is confinement, which explains how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. Confinement implies that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons has an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and is capable of being independently excited. The energy and mode structure of the excitations give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately lead to confinement.

The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called “exotic mesons.” The experiment will map these mesons by producing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distribution of their decay particles. The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a high-energy electron beam from the US Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, using the process of coherent bremsstrahlung. Coherent bremsstrahlung refers to electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a diamond crystal. After the electrons emerge from the diamond, their energies are measured in a magnetic spectrometer called the “tagger”, which “tags” the energy of the photons produced in the diamond as the difference between the pre- and post-bremsstrahlung electron energies.

The tagger is a major component in the engineering design of GlueX. Members of the nuclear physics group at UConn have received funding from the US Department of Energy for the design and prototyping of electron detectors for the tagger. The design goals of this project include selection of optical fibers and waveguides for the electron detectors, the mechanical design and machining of a light-sealed case to contain the detectors, and the development of techniques for gluing them and mounting them on a precise remote-controlled alignment rail system. A prototype of the tagging fiber detector is currently being constructed, and will be tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in January 2010.

==Summary of Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg|right|Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

My work over the Spring 2009 semester can be categorized into four main topics:

'''1. Final CAD Renderings of the Microscope Enclosure'''

'''2. Training for the Operation of CNC Machines'''

'''3. Training for and Investigation into Fiber Gluing Techniques'''

'''4. "Frontiers of Undergraduate Research" Poster Presentation'''

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T21:33:41Z

Lamb: /* Summary of Spring 2009 Work */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force, which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons create the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark pairs and baryons in their simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provide a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analogous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

One fundamental hypothesis in the field of strong-interaction nuclear physics is confinement, which explains how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. Confinement implies that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons has an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and is capable of being independently excited. The energy and mode structure of the excitations give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately lead to confinement.

The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called “exotic mesons.” The experiment will map these mesons by producing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distribution of their decay particles. The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a high-energy electron beam from the US Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, using the process of coherent bremsstrahlung. Coherent bremsstrahlung refers to electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a diamond crystal. After the electrons emerge from the diamond, their energies are measured in a magnetic spectrometer called the “tagger”, which “tags” the energy of the photons produced in the diamond as the difference between the pre- and post-bremsstrahlung electron energies.

The tagger is a major component in the engineering design of GlueX. Members of the nuclear physics group at UConn have received funding from the US Department of Energy for the design and prototyping of electron detectors for the tagger. The design goals of this project include selection of optical fibers and waveguides for the electron detectors, the mechanical design and machining of a light-sealed case to contain the detectors, and the development of techniques for gluing them and mounting them on a precise remote-controlled alignment rail system. A prototype of the tagging fiber detector is currently being constructed, and will be tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in January 2010.

==Summary of Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg|right|Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

My work over the Spring 2009 semester can be categorized into four main topics:

'''1. Final CAD Renderings of the Microscope Enclosure'''

'''2. Training for the Operation of CNC Machines'''

'''3. Training for and Investigation into Fiber Gluing Techniques'''

'''4. "Frontiers of Undergraduate Research" Poster Presentation'''

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T21:33:31Z

Lamb: /* Summary of Spring 2009 Work */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force, which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons create the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark pairs and baryons in their simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provide a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analogous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

One fundamental hypothesis in the field of strong-interaction nuclear physics is confinement, which explains how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. Confinement implies that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons has an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and is capable of being independently excited. The energy and mode structure of the excitations give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately lead to confinement.

The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called “exotic mesons.” The experiment will map these mesons by producing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distribution of their decay particles. The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a high-energy electron beam from the US Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, using the process of coherent bremsstrahlung. Coherent bremsstrahlung refers to electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a diamond crystal. After the electrons emerge from the diamond, their energies are measured in a magnetic spectrometer called the “tagger”, which “tags” the energy of the photons produced in the diamond as the difference between the pre- and post-bremsstrahlung electron energies.

The tagger is a major component in the engineering design of GlueX. Members of the nuclear physics group at UConn have received funding from the US Department of Energy for the design and prototyping of electron detectors for the tagger. The design goals of this project include selection of optical fibers and waveguides for the electron detectors, the mechanical design and machining of a light-sealed case to contain the detectors, and the development of techniques for gluing them and mounting them on a precise remote-controlled alignment rail system. A prototype of the tagging fiber detector is currently being constructed, and will be tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in January 2010.

==Summary of Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg|right|Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

My work over the Spring 2009 semester can be categorized into four main topics:

'''1. Final CAD Renderings of the Microscope Enclosure'''

'''2. Training for the Operation and Safety of CNC Machines'''

'''3. Training for and Investigation into Fiber Gluing Techniques'''

'''4. "Frontiers of Undergraduate Research" Poster Presentation'''

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T21:33:15Z

Lamb: /* Summary of Spring 2009 Work */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force, which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons create the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark pairs and baryons in their simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provide a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analogous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

One fundamental hypothesis in the field of strong-interaction nuclear physics is confinement, which explains how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. Confinement implies that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons has an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and is capable of being independently excited. The energy and mode structure of the excitations give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately lead to confinement.

The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called “exotic mesons.” The experiment will map these mesons by producing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distribution of their decay particles. The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a high-energy electron beam from the US Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, using the process of coherent bremsstrahlung. Coherent bremsstrahlung refers to electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a diamond crystal. After the electrons emerge from the diamond, their energies are measured in a magnetic spectrometer called the “tagger”, which “tags” the energy of the photons produced in the diamond as the difference between the pre- and post-bremsstrahlung electron energies.

The tagger is a major component in the engineering design of GlueX. Members of the nuclear physics group at UConn have received funding from the US Department of Energy for the design and prototyping of electron detectors for the tagger. The design goals of this project include selection of optical fibers and waveguides for the electron detectors, the mechanical design and machining of a light-sealed case to contain the detectors, and the development of techniques for gluing them and mounting them on a precise remote-controlled alignment rail system. A prototype of the tagging fiber detector is currently being constructed, and will be tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in January 2010.

==Summary of Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg|right|Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

My work over the Spring 2009 semester can be categorized into four main topics:

'''1. Final CAD Renderings of the Microscope Enclosure'''

'''2. Training for the Operation of CNC Machines'''

'''3. Training for and Investigation into Fiber Gluing Techniques'''

'''4. "Frontiers of Undergraduate Research" Poster Presentation'''

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T21:33:01Z

Lamb: /* Summary of Spring 2009 Work */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force, which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons create the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark pairs and baryons in their simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provide a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analogous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

One fundamental hypothesis in the field of strong-interaction nuclear physics is confinement, which explains how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. Confinement implies that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons has an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and is capable of being independently excited. The energy and mode structure of the excitations give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately lead to confinement.

The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called “exotic mesons.” The experiment will map these mesons by producing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distribution of their decay particles. The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a high-energy electron beam from the US Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, using the process of coherent bremsstrahlung. Coherent bremsstrahlung refers to electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a diamond crystal. After the electrons emerge from the diamond, their energies are measured in a magnetic spectrometer called the “tagger”, which “tags” the energy of the photons produced in the diamond as the difference between the pre- and post-bremsstrahlung electron energies.

The tagger is a major component in the engineering design of GlueX. Members of the nuclear physics group at UConn have received funding from the US Department of Energy for the design and prototyping of electron detectors for the tagger. The design goals of this project include selection of optical fibers and waveguides for the electron detectors, the mechanical design and machining of a light-sealed case to contain the detectors, and the development of techniques for gluing them and mounting them on a precise remote-controlled alignment rail system. A prototype of the tagging fiber detector is currently being constructed, and will be tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in January 2010.

==Summary of Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg|right|Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

My work over the Spring 2009 semester can be categorized into four main topics:

'''1. Final CAD Renderings of the Microscope Enclosure'''

'''2. Hands-on Training for the Operation of CNC Machines'''

'''3. Training for and Investigation into Fiber Gluing Techniques'''

'''4. "Frontiers of Undergraduate Research" Poster Presentation'''

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T21:31:09Z

Lamb: /* Summary of Spring 2009 Work */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force, which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons create the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark pairs and baryons in their simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provide a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analogous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

One fundamental hypothesis in the field of strong-interaction nuclear physics is confinement, which explains how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. Confinement implies that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons has an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and is capable of being independently excited. The energy and mode structure of the excitations give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately lead to confinement.

The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called “exotic mesons.” The experiment will map these mesons by producing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distribution of their decay particles. The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a high-energy electron beam from the US Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, using the process of coherent bremsstrahlung. Coherent bremsstrahlung refers to electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a diamond crystal. After the electrons emerge from the diamond, their energies are measured in a magnetic spectrometer called the “tagger”, which “tags” the energy of the photons produced in the diamond as the difference between the pre- and post-bremsstrahlung electron energies.

The tagger is a major component in the engineering design of GlueX. Members of the nuclear physics group at UConn have received funding from the US Department of Energy for the design and prototyping of electron detectors for the tagger. The design goals of this project include selection of optical fibers and waveguides for the electron detectors, the mechanical design and machining of a light-sealed case to contain the detectors, and the development of techniques for gluing them and mounting them on a precise remote-controlled alignment rail system. A prototype of the tagging fiber detector is currently being constructed, and will be tested at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in January 2010.

==Summary of Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg|right|Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

My work over the Spring 2009 semester can be categorized into four main topics:

1. Final CAD Renderings of the Microscope Enclosure

2. Hands-on Training for the Operation of CNC Machines

3. Training for and Investigation into Fiber Gluing Techniques

4. "Frontiers of Undergraduate Research" Poster Presentation

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T20:42:14Z

Lamb: /* Summary of Fall 2008 Work */

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T20:33:03Z

Lamb: /* Summary Fall 2008 Work */

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T20:32:01Z

Lamb: /* Project Abstract */

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T20:30:38Z

Lamb:

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

==Project Abstract==

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons are the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons is the gluon field. Different hadrons are distinguished by a unique set of quantum numbers for J (spin), P (parity), and C (charge conjugation) and flavor. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark, and baryons in simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provides a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analagous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

The idea of confinement was proposed as a way to explain how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. The proposal of quark confinement states that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons will have an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and will be capable of being independently excited. The energies and mode structures of the excitations can give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately give rise to confinement. The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called "exotic mesons". GlueX will map exotic mesons by protucing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distributions of their decay particles. Ultimately, if GlueX is successful it will be the first time that such exotic mesons have been observed experimentally.

The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a 12gev electron beam from the CEBAF accelerator at Jefferson National Laboratories. GlueX will subsequently use the coherent bremsstrahlung technique to linearly-polarize this photon beam. The photon beam will then pass through a solenoid-based hermetic detector which is being designed to collect data on meson production and decay. Using the tagged bremsstrahlung technique, electromagnetic radiation is produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a component called the radiator. After they emerge from the radiator, a magnetic spectrometer called the "tagger" will measure the remaining energy of the electrons. The energy in the photon beam is thus "tagged" by the energy of the beam minus the energy of the electrons measured in the tagger.

This project concerns the design andconstruction of the electron detectors that measure the energy and timing of the electrons in the tagger. A prototype for the tagging detectors - colloqually known as the "microscope" - is currently being designed and constructed at UConn. The entire prototype will be complete in December 2009 and will be tested during early 2010 in an electron beam at Jefferson National Laboratory in Virginia.

During the fall 2008 semester, a huge development in the project is the finalization of a design for the “skeleton” framework that will both support and contain the electronic, optical, and mechanical components of the microscope. To do this, TurboCad drafting software was used to create ANSI-standardized renderings of the different pieces that will ultimately come together to form the skeleton. The idea for a skeleton framework for the actual microscope box was decided on as a way to conserve weight in the final design. The final design must also be light-sealed and durable, and the contents of the box must be easily accessible for routine maintenance. All of these specific considerations were taken into account when designing the tagger microscope's skeleton (and complete box), and all of the details of this work are described below.

==Summary Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

Stuff & Junk...

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T20:30:04Z

Lamb: /* Project Abstract */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

==Project Abstract==

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope enclosure, and the assembly of fiber optic arrays that it will contain. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities worldwide.

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons are the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons is the gluon field. Different hadrons are distinguished by a unique set of quantum numbers for J (spin), P (parity), and C (charge conjugation) and flavor. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark, and baryons in simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provides a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analagous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

The idea of confinement was proposed as a way to explain how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. The proposal of quark confinement states that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons will have an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and will be capable of being independently excited. The energies and mode structures of the excitations can give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately give rise to confinement. The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called "exotic mesons". GlueX will map exotic mesons by protucing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distributions of their decay particles. Ultimately, if GlueX is successful it will be the first time that such exotic mesons have been observed experimentally.

The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a 12gev electron beam from the CEBAF accelerator at Jefferson National Laboratories. GlueX will subsequently use the coherent bremsstrahlung technique to linearly-polarize this photon beam. The photon beam will then pass through a solenoid-based hermetic detector which is being designed to collect data on meson production and decay. Using the tagged bremsstrahlung technique, electromagnetic radiation is produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a component called the radiator. After they emerge from the radiator, a magnetic spectrometer called the "tagger" will measure the remaining energy of the electrons. The energy in the photon beam is thus "tagged" by the energy of the beam minus the energy of the electrons measured in the tagger.

This project concerns the design andconstruction of the electron detectors that measure the energy and timing of the electrons in the tagger. A prototype for the tagging detectors - colloqually known as the "microscope" - is currently being designed and constructed at UConn. The entire prototype will be complete in December 2009 and will be tested during early 2010 in an electron beam at Jefferson National Laboratory in Virginia.

During the fall 2008 semester, a huge development in the project is the finalization of a design for the “skeleton” framework that will both support and contain the electronic, optical, and mechanical components of the microscope. To do this, TurboCad drafting software was used to create ANSI-standardized renderings of the different pieces that will ultimately come together to form the skeleton. The idea for a skeleton framework for the actual microscope box was decided on as a way to conserve weight in the final design. The final design must also be light-sealed and durable, and the contents of the box must be easily accessible for routine maintenance. All of these specific considerations were taken into account when designing the tagger microscope's skeleton (and complete box), and all of the details of this work are described below.

==Summary Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

Stuff & Junk...

Engineering Design and Fiber Arrays

2009-04-29T20:28:22Z

Lamb: /* About Me */

==About Me==

I am soon to be a 7th semester Physics major, and I have been working with Dr. Jones and his lab group since more-or-less the beginning of summer 2008. My current work on the GlueX project relates to the mechanical engineering design and testing of the photon-tagging detector (microscope) which will be used in the Hall D experiment at the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (J-Lab). I am also extremely involved in USA Cycling, where I work as a neutral support race mechanic at professional cycling races across the country (but mostly in the northeast).

==Project Abstract==

The project that I am working on with Dr. Jones and his UConn lab group is the mechanical design of the tagger microscope box. The tagger microscope is a critical part of the GlueX particle accelerator experiment being constructed and run at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia. The GlueX project is overseen (and largely-funded) by the United States Department of Energy, but is executed by an international collaboration of physicists which includes students and faculty members from universities in the US, Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, Greece, Armenia, and China.

The GlueX experiment is designed to probe the mechanisms of confinement of quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the accepted theory of the nuclear strong force which explains the interactions of the quarks and gluons that compose hadrons. Quarks and gluons are subatomic particles which never live in isolation, but are always bound inside composite objects called hadrons. Gluons are the force that holds quarks together inside hadrons is the gluon field. Different hadrons are distinguished by a unique set of quantum numbers for J (spin), P (parity), and C (charge conjugation) and flavor. Hadrons come in two types: mesons existing in their simple state of bound quark/antiquark, and baryons in simplest form of three quarks. Mesons consist of only two fermions, and provides a unique opportunity for studying strong-interacting physics. Such an opportunity is analagous to the hydrogen atom in classical physics.

The idea of confinement was proposed as a way to explain how quarks and gluons are the elementary particles of which the nucleus is made, even though isolated quarks and gluons have never been observed in an experiment. The proposal of quark confinement states that an infinite amount of energy is required to isolate a quark outside of a hadron. One of the predictions of QCD is that the gluonic field inside hadrons will have an independent degree of freedom from the quarks, and will be capable of being independently excited. The energies and mode structures of the excitations can give important information regarding the configuration of the gluonic fields, which ultimately give rise to confinement. The GlueX experiment searches for mesons with internal gluon excitations, called "exotic mesons". GlueX will map exotic mesons by protucing them with photon-proton collisions and subsequently measuring their quantum numbers by studying the angular distributions of their decay particles. Ultimately, if GlueX is successful it will be the first time that such exotic mesons have been observed experimentally.

The GlueX experiment will generate a photon beam beginning with a 12gev electron beam from the CEBAF accelerator at Jefferson National Laboratories. GlueX will subsequently use the coherent bremsstrahlung technique to linearly-polarize this photon beam. The photon beam will then pass through a solenoid-based hermetic detector which is being designed to collect data on meson production and decay. Using the tagged bremsstrahlung technique, electromagnetic radiation is produced by the deceleration of electrons inside a component called the radiator. After they emerge from the radiator, a magnetic spectrometer called the "tagger" will measure the remaining energy of the electrons. The energy in the photon beam is thus "tagged" by the energy of the beam minus the energy of the electrons measured in the tagger.

This project concerns the design andconstruction of the electron detectors that measure the energy and timing of the electrons in the tagger. A prototype for the tagging detectors - colloqually known as the "microscope" - is currently being designed and constructed at UConn. The entire prototype will be complete in December 2009 and will be tested during early 2010 in an electron beam at Jefferson National Laboratory in Virginia.

During the fall 2008 semester, a huge development in the project is the finalization of a design for the “skeleton” framework that will both support and contain the electronic, optical, and mechanical components of the microscope. To do this, TurboCad drafting software was used to create ANSI-standardized renderings of the different pieces that will ultimately come together to form the skeleton. The idea for a skeleton framework for the actual microscope box was decided on as a way to conserve weight in the final design. The final design must also be light-sealed and durable, and the contents of the box must be easily accessible for routine maintenance. All of these specific considerations were taken into account when designing the tagger microscope's skeleton (and complete box), and all of the details of this work are described below.

==Summary Fall 2008 Work==

This semester, my work focused on the physics-engineering design of the tagger microscope box to be used for the GlueX particle accelerator project in Hall D at Jefferson National Lab in Virginia. The volume of work that I ultimately produced was not as much as I had hoped for, because I spent the first months of the semester learning the computer programs needed to facilitate my design work. Based on my current knowledge of these programs plus the final data and design files I was able to create, I would consider this semester a definite success.

The main computer program used for my project is TurboCad. TurboCad is a drafting program similar to both AutoCAD and Solid Works, but is better suited to my project because it allows more 2D and isometric views, as well as a full repertoire of snaps and rendering settings. The currently-marketed edition of TurboCad is Version 15.0, but for the GlueX design project I was working primarily with Version 12.0. It took some time into the semester until I could properly install it on my personal laptop, but after that time my work became infinitely more efficient. The TurboCad program was somewhat complicated to learn, but I did so successfully by using the help menus and tutorials, as well as by asking questions at lab meetings and experimenting on my own. The first challenge I gave myself was drafting a bicycle frame, and once I succeeded at this near the end of October, I began working exclusively on the Tagger design. The files I created for the Tagger design still need a lot of revision, which I hope to complete over the winter break and into next semester. Ideally, I would like to have the prototype Tagger box machined and assembled by sometime in February of 2009.

[[Image:Tagger Skeleton.jpg]]

This semester, I learned that the process of designing the Tagger box is entirely experimental. Overall as a lab group, we have a general idea of how the box should be constructed, although this is subject to slight revisions on a weekly basis. Some of the main revisions integrated into the design this semester include the “skeleton” support structure versus a solid box to reduce weight, and the idea of using foil to form the sides of the box to access the fibers and motors inside. As each of these revisions was discussed and sketched out, it was my job to draft the new design in TurboCad – a process that became a great learning experience for me on many levels. In this same vein, I would characterize the entire Fall 2008 semester as a “great learning experience” for my design project. The presentable TurboCad files that I have created are indexed below. While they are not many in number, I believe that they accurately represent my growing confidence and comfort level with using the program. The majority of the Tagger’s skeleton is rendered, and I hope to work with our lab group and the Physics machine shop to expand on all of these designs in the coming weeks and months. For this semester, however, I feel that my greatest victory was learning the TurboCad program, which will be an invaluable tool for me to use in the future.

==Summary of Spring 2009 Work==

Stuff & Junk...

2009-01-08T22:59:45Z

Lamb:

Tagger Microscope Box Design

2009-01-08T22:59:32Z

Lamb:

Tagger Microscope Box Design

2008-12-18T22:08:36Z

Lamb: /* Project Overview */

Tagger Microscope Box Design

2008-12-17T00:56:57Z

Lamb:

Tagger Microscope Box Design

2008-12-17T00:38:11Z

Lamb:

Tagger Microscope Box Design

2008-12-17T00:36:56Z

Lamb: