Modern particle detection systems (especially at high energy facilities) consist frequently of a variety of different sub-detectors that provide the different information needed to measure quantities such as particle position, time of flight, and particle momentum and energy over a wide range of energies and particle types. The type of detector used is also critically dependent on the range of the particle's energy. We will cover energies from about 1 MeV (from sources such as 241Am) up to several GeVs (cosmic rays or Jefferson Lab data).  The combination of this information allows one  to subsequently identify the particle type and ideally determine its 4-momentum. We will use fast scintillator detectors for time  and energy loss measurements that are read out by either photo-multipliers and silicon PM (SiPM) detectors and surface barrier detectors for high resolution measurements of MeV alpha particles using digitizers (flash adc's). The trainees will learn to assemble detectors and then evaluate their performance. This includes the preparation of analog data, the production and combination of logic signals to form triggers for selected events, to operate analog-to-digital and time-to-digital converters, and recording these data with a computer. They will learn how these systems are controlled by a modern data acquisition system, based on Jefferson Lab's CODA system. They will record particles on an event-by-event basis and learn how of analyze event files similar to those produced by much larger instruments. The trainees will learn to use the CERN ROOT system and Python to perform various analysis tasks. In addition, in preparation for future EIC projects, our group is involved with the development of DAQ system for the Electron-Endcap Electromagnetic Calorimeter (EEEMCal).  We plan to involve the trainees with this project and provide hands-on experience. 

Using published data, past students--including previous and current trainees--have successfully conducted work related to the application of Constituent Counting Rule (CCR) for various reactions and the t-slope evolution in reactions.  This can be extended to multiple other reactions. We also plan to involve the trainees in the project of extracting the ratio of longitudinal to transverse structure functions,  using published transferred polarization results for hyperon electroproduction.  Recently published data enable us to extend this to higher values of W and Q2 and to improve on the previous work due to the higher statistical precision of the new results. These projects do not need huge amounts of computing power and can be easily performed on personal computers.

Reinhold and graduate student Viviana Arroyave will work on data analysis for the recently completed PrimeX-eta experiment. They would welcome the participation of an undergraduate intern in the calibration tasks. The corresponding software tools are more narrowly focused on individual systems and are a good entry point to data analysis. Students would gain computational skills starting from Linux to scheduling batch jobs on the JLab computing farm.

With the recent observation of neutron stars with masses above two solar masses and gravitational wave data indicating the merger of two neutron stars, the interest in the equation of state (EOS) of nuclear matter well above the saturation density increased significantly. Currently there are few experimental constrains that can be imposed on equation of states mostly relevant to EOS below the saturation density. 

However information about two- and three-nucleon short range correlations (SRCs) that correspond to high density fluctuations above saturation density can be used to constrain EOS well above saturation density.  During the last two decades, Jefferson Lab produced a wealth of high energy electro-nuclear scattering data that can be used to extract information about two- and three-nucleon SRCs. 

In the proposed project we intend to perform detailed theoretical analysis of available high energy  electro-nuclear data to extract parameters that characterize the probabilities of two- and three-nucleon SRCs in the ground state of the nuclear wave function.  This result will be used in constraining phenomenological equation of states or alternatively parameterize EOS that are in agreement with short-range  fluctuation properties of finite nuclei.  Once such a parameterization is completed, it will be used to calculate neutron star mass-radius relations based on Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV) equation.  The project will allow students to learn  about the basics of electro-nuclear scattering processes, involving kinematics and cross sections, as well as to learn about phenomenological construction of EOS and numerical solution of TOV equations.  Successful completion of this project will allow students to prepare the results for publication.

Dr. Narayanan and his collaborators have worked extensively on the problem of the mass gap in strongly interacting theories primarily using numerical techniques. 

All theories of interest in nuclear physics involves the interaction of fermions with gauge fields. Scale invariance or scale breaking in such theories can be studied by an analysis of the scaling of the eigenvalues of the massless Dirac operator as a function of the size of the system. Scale invariant theories can be identified as some conformal field theory. 

The trainee will be taught the essentials of conformal field theories and lattice numerical techniques. These are topics not covered in a typical undergraduate course and will be useful preparation for graduate schools. Motivated advanced trainees might be able work on a research project that uses the techniques learned during the beginning of their training.

Dr. Cosyn and his collaborators have developed theoretical frameworks for several high-energy nuclear reactions and for the quantification of nuclear short-range correlations.  In the next years, several Jefferson Lab experiments will have data against which these frameworks can be compared.  Examples are the proton and pion nuclear transparency measurements, and experiments measuring spectator tagged deuteron deep inelastic scattering.  These comparisons would yield valuable information regarding the theoretical interpretation of the data, or provide new constraints on the models used in these frameworks.  For most of these comparisons the code would be able to be run ``out of the box'' (with the proper kinematical input) or require small modifications.  Another possibility is using the frameworks to run theoretical studies for the future electron-ion collider or to provide as input for Monte Carlo studies in the detector design studies.   The trainee would need to immerse themselves in the theory behind these frameworks to a certain degree, as interpretation of the results goes beyond using it as a black box.  Technical skills acquired in this project would be running and writing code (C++ / python), using UNIX systems, confronting data with theory calculations, and critical assessment and plotting  of data--theory comparisons.

The goal in this project is that the trainee writes Jupyter notebooks that allow interested parties to run and disseminate results from the theoretical frameworks mentioned above.  Notebooks allow the combination of text, formulas, plots and interactive code.  This provides a unique environment in which both the necessary high-level theoretical background and interactive possibilities to run calculations can be combined.  The intended audience would be people unfamiliar with the details of the framework but interested in producing calculations with it, e.g. to compare different models or to compare with experimental data.  As a consequence, it is of the utmost importance to keep the end user in mind with regards to theory discussion and instructions to run the notebook.    

For this project, the skill emphasis would clearly be on the computational aspect, in combination with clear communication.  In order to discuss the theory, a fair amount of study of the frameworks would also be needed.  Given the undergraduate level of the trainee and the often advanced technical nature of several of these frameworks, this would happen with close support from the mentor.