Student Projects in Nuclear Physics

This work is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under grant 2209480

The following talk was presented by group member Eric Ercolani to the UConn Frontiers in Undergraduate Research in April, 2021.

Student pages

Student Videos on Data Analysis Techniques

• ROOT Data Analysis Framework Overview - James McIntyre

Tagger Microscope Installation and Commissioning

• Tagger Microscope Status - Alex Barnes
• Microscope Installation Pictures - Alex Barnes, Brendan Pratt, James McIntyre
• Fiber Installation - Alex Barnes, Brendan Pratt, James McIntyre
• Fiber geometry and numbering scheme - Richard Jones
• Inclusive listing of lab journals of students who worked on this project

Tagger Microscope Mechanical Construction

• Moving the Tagger Microscope - James McIntyre
  • Calculating the move - James McIntyre
  • Tagger Microscope Placement in the Tagger Hall - James McIntyre
• Tagger Microscope Construction - James McIntyre, Alex Barnes
• Construction of the Full-Scale Tagger Microscope - Ann Marie Carroll, James McIntyre, Jonathan Kulakofsky, Liana Hotte, Kenny Brand, John Bartolotta, Aaron Carta
• Tagger Microscope Engineering Drawings - James McIntyre
• Replacement Fibers Construction and Assessment - Micah Warren

Tagger Microscope Electronics

• Microscope Electronics - Alex Barnes, Igor Senderovich, Jonathan Kulakofsky
• Euro Card Connectors - Alex Barnes, James Mcintyre
• Darkbox Fiber Testing Setup - Alex Barnes

Active Collimator Installation and Commissioning

• Assembly and bench tests with the active collimator - John Bartolotta
• Active Collimator Installation Pictures - Alex Barnes

Diamond Radiator Fabrication and Mounting

• Diamond Radiator Thinning Using an Excimer Laser - Brendan Pratt
• Diamond Mounting - Brendan Pratt
• Analysis of Diamond Cantilever Vibration - Jessica Hyde
• Surface Images and Thickness profile of Diamonds - Fridah Mokaya

Detector Development

• Construction and testing of a GEM-based radon detector - Andrew Sampino, Mira Varma

Hadron Spectroscopy

• Summary of 2008 XYZ Meson Review - Igor Senderovich
• Exotic b1π Channel Simulation and Analysis - Igor Senderovich

Radphi Data Analysis

• η Meson Cross Section Analysis (UNDER CONSTRUCTION) - James McIntyre
• Omega photoproduction and backgrounds simulation

GPU Computing

• GPU/CPU Cooling System - James McIntyre, Alex Barnes
• Cooling System Specification - John Bartolotta
• GPU/CPU Cooling Loop Construction - Andy Wang
• GPU/CPU Cooling Loop Controls - Frances Yu, Jeremy Prema, Sabrina Shen, Amar Sinha, Varun Yetukuri

Presentations and Posters

Conferences and Workshops

• Hall D & GlueX Update, Alex Barnes - invited plenary talk, JLab Annual User's Group Meeting, Newport News, VA, June 20-22, 2016.
• Spin density matrix elements for radiative decays of the omega meson in photoproduction at 5 GeV, Fridah Mokaya - contributed talk, APS-DNP Annual April Meeting, Salt Lake City, NM, Apr. 16-19, 2016.
• Calibration of the Tagger Detectors with GlueX Commissioning Data, Alex Barnes - contributed talk, APS-DNP Annual Fall Meeting, Santa Fe, NM, Oct. 28-31, 2015.
• High-Statistics Analysis of All-Neutral Decays of Mesons with the Radphi Experiment, Fridah Mokaya - contributed talk, 2015 International Summer Workshop on Reaction Theory, Bloomington, IN, June 8-19, 2015.
• High-Resolution Tagger Hodoscope for GlueX, James McIntyre - contributed talk, 2015 International Summer Workshop on Reaction Theory, Bloomington, IN, June 8-19, 2015.
• GlueX at JLab, Alex Barnes - contributed talk, Hampton University Graduate Summer School 2015, Newport News, VA, May29 - June 17, 2015.
• Diamond Radiator Development for the GlueX Experiment, Brendan Pratt - contributed talk, 2015 International Summer Workshop on Reaction Theory, Bloomington, IN, June 8-19, 2015.
• Thin Diamond Radiator Characterization at CHESS for the GlueX Experiment, Brendan Pratt - poster, CHESS Annual User's Meeting, Ithaca, NY, June 10-11, 2014.
• Thin Diamond Radiator Fabrication for the GlueX Experiment Brendan Pratt - contributed talk, New Diamond and Nano Carbons Conference, Chicago, IL, May 25-29, 2014.
• The Development and Construction of the Tagger Microscope for the GlueX Experiment, Alex Barnes - contributed talk, DNP-2013 Newport News, VA, October, 2013.
• Thin Diamond Radiator Fabrication and Characterization for The GlueX Experiment - Brendan Pratt - poster, International Conference on Diamond and Carbon Materials, Riva del Garda, Italy, Sept. 2-5, 2013.
• CHESS Rocking Curve Measurements of Thin Diamonds for the GlueX Experiment, Alex Barnes - poster, CHESS Annual Users Meeting, Ithaca, NY, June 4-5, 2013.
• Thin Diamond Radiator Fabrication for the GlueX Experiment, Brendan Pratt - contributed talk, APS-DNP Annual Fall Meeting, Newport Newport Beach, CA, Oct. 24-27, 2012.
• Collimation and Tagging Instrumentation for the GlueX Photon Beamline, Igor Senderovich - contributed talk, APS-DNP Annual Fall Meeting, Newport Beach, CA, Oct. 24-27, 2012.
• Design and Fabrication of Calibration Device for Scintillating Fibers of Tagger Microscope: For use in GlueX’s QCD Experiment, Emily Briere - poster, Conference Experience for Undergraduates, Newport Beach, CA, Oct. 24-27, 2012.
• Search for Gluonic Excitations in Hadrons with GlueX, Igor Senderovich, Proceedings of the XIV International Conference on Hadron Spectroscopy, eds. S. Paul and N. Barmbilla, Munich, Germany, July 13-17, 2011.

Other Venues

• Applying Machine Learning to Particle Detectors (PowerPoint, video), Alexander Ercolani, Frontiers in Undergraduate Research 2021, Physics Department, University of Connecticut, March 2021.
• Spin density matrix elements for radiative decays of the omega meson in photoproduction at 5 GeV, Fridah Mokaya, poster, Annual Graduate Research Exhibition, Physics Department, University of Connecticut, March 11, 2016.
• Diamond Radiator Fabrication and Characterization for the GlueX Experiment, Brendan Pratt, poster, Annual Graduate Research Exhibition, Physics Department, University of Connecticut, March 11, 2016.
• Quantifying Light Loss in the Tagger Microscope for the GlueX Experiment , Christine Ploen, poster, Annual Graduate Research Exhibition, Physics Department, University of Connecticut, March 11, 2016.
• Construction and Testing of the Photon Tagger Microscope for the GlueX Experiment, Liana Hotte - poster at Frontiers in Undergraduate Research 2015, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, April 10-11, 2015.
• Understanding Confinement in Quantum Chromodynamics Through the GlueX Experiment, Alex Barnes - invited seminar, Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA, Nov. 2 2012.
• Posters and talks from past years

Completed Projects

Undergrad Honors Projects

• Applying Machine Learning to Particle Detectors - Alexander Ercolani, 5/2021.
• Diagnostics of Light Yield from Scintillating Fibers - Christine Ploen, 5/2016.
• Construction of the Photon Tagger Microscope for the GlueX Experiment - Liana Hotte, 12/2015.
• Design and Fabrication of Calibration Device for Scintillating Fibers of Tagger Microscope: For use in GlueX’s QCD Experiment, Emily Briere, REU project final report, August 1, 2012.
• Listing of past undergraduate research projects

High School Mentored Projects

• CERN Beamline For Schools team advisor, 2021 - Zeno Chen, Arnav Thakrar, Anthony Song, Kanishk Tihaiya, Faizdeenkhan Pathan, Mayee Mavillapalli, Isha Bang
• CERN Beamline For Schools team advisor, 2020 - Zeno Chen, Mayee Mavillapalli, Isha Bang, Dylian Erwin, Faizdeenkhan Pathan, Anthony Song
• Authentic Research Mentorship, Glasstonbury High School, 2018-19 - Richard Dube, Lily Horrigan
• Mentor Connection 2014 - Alden Richter, Omar Amer, and Suki Hyman, 7/2014.
• Mentor Connection 2014 - Alden Richter, Omar Amer, and Suki Hyman, 7/2014.
• Mentor Connection 2014 - Alden Richter, Omar Amer, and Suki Hyman, 7/2014.
• Mentor Connection 2013 - Michael Reisman and Kyle Lockwood, 7/2013.
• all past years

Theses

• Alexander Ercolani, Applying Machine Learning to Particle Detectors, Undergraduate Honors Thesis, University of Connecticut, May 8, 2021.
• Fridah Mokaya, High Statistics Analysis of All-Neutral Decays of Vector Mesons with the Radphi Experiment, PhD Thesis, University of Connecticut, May 4, 2018.
• Brendan Pratt, Diamond Radiator Fabrication, Characterization and Performance for the GlueX Experiment, PhD Thesis, University of Connecticut, August 21, 2017.
• Alex Barnes, Development of the Tagger Microscope & Analysis of Spin Density Matrix Elements in gamma,p -> phi(1020),p for the GlueX Experiment, PhD Thesis, University of Connecticut, May 5, 2017.
• Liana Hotte, Construction of the Photon Tagger Microscope for the GlueX Experiment, Undergraduate Honors Thesis, University of Connecticut, December 18, 2015.
• Igor Senderovich, Search for Gluonic Excitations in Hadrons with GlueX, PhD thesis, University of Connecticut, August 24, 2012.
• Chris Pelletier, Vibration Analysis for Diamond Bremsstrahlung Targets, Undergraduate Honors Thesis, University of Connecticut, May 11, 2011.
• Mitchell Underwood, Design of Electronics for a High-Energy Photon Tagger for the GlueX Experiment, Undergraduate Honors Thesis, University of Connecticut, May 8, 2010.

Tutorials

ROOT Data Analysis Framework

• ROOT Data Analysis Framework Overview - James McIntyre

3D Printing

• How to 3D Print (Under Construction) - James McIntyre, Ben Willis

Machine Learning

• Pandas: Data Handling in Python - James McIntyre
• SciPy (Scientific Python): Open-source Library - James McIntyre

• NumPy (Numerical Python): Open-source Library - James McIntyre
• Python: Programming Language) - James McIntyre

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Help

• Administrative Guide for New Group Members
• How to start a Chrome Remote Desktop session on Linux
• How to print a poster in P403
• Notes on distributed authoring software tools
• Example page - Richard Jones
• Test page - testing

References

• Group Photos
• Physics References
• Jefferson Lab Accelerator Schedule 2014-2016, 2016-2018
• JLab VME Module Manuals
• Video: Introduction to GlueX by Prof. Curtis Meyer

Safety Resources

• Chemical Inventory P-403 and P-405