Nuclear Physics Consolidated Grant
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Glasgow
Department Name: School of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
The overarching goal of our research programme is to address aspects of the broad science challenge: "What are the basic constituents of matter and how do they interact?". In particular, by performing experiments primarily with electron and photon beams, we study questions such as "How do quarks and gluons form hadrons?", and by studying these basic, strongly-interacting building blocks we are able to tackle the question "What is the nature of nuclear matter?"
Planned Impact
Cross-Disciplinary Impact:
The detectors, simulation and data analysis tools we develop in our core research are relevant to several applications in other fields. We are heavily involved with knowledge transfer activities and regularly collaborate with researchers from other fields (e.g. computing science or the NHS). Several group members either participate in, serve or have served on a number of cross-disciplinary networks (e.g. chairing the EPC Nuclear Physics Division, or participating in the steering committee of the STFC network in Early Cancer Diagnosis). As a result we have a strong track record in training non-STFC funded PhD students in applied/inter-disciplinary projects. We will continue this during the grant and will apply for future non-STFC funded PhD projects. We have already secured a PhD student funded by the European Spallation Source starting in 2020 and we have applied for an NDA-funded PhD project, both of which will overlap with the grant. For the duration of the grant we will deliver a taught MSc on Nuclear Technology. Key beneficiaries will be MSc and PhD students who will gain technical skills for entering research, data science, or nuclear technology work forces.
Throughout the grant we will seek funding to develop an ultra-fast photon detector offering exceptional performance improvements for applications in different fields relying on precision timing - the radio frequency photomultiplier tube. One possible avenue is within quantum technologies (QT) and we are discussing routes to joint funding with colleagues in this field. Key beneficiaries will include industry partners in different fields from ours, e.g. QT or fluorescence microscopy.
Technology Transfer to Industry:
Several industrial partners will benefit from technologies developed in our research and we will seek several routes to commercialisation. This includes a miniature scintillation detector developed during a recent NDA-funded PhD, and diamond sensor technology which we are developing with Micon Semiconductors Inc. We received an IAA for the diamond sensor studies, the aim of which is to develop an IPS application to run in parallel with the grant. We will seek future commercial customers for our spin-off company Lynkeos Ltd, who currently have a commercial cosmic muon imaging system deployed at Sellafield for imaging shielded nuclear waste containers. We are performing several feasibility studies for purposes such as target monitoring at the ESS, or imaging of civil structures for the German company BAM. If successful, these studies would lead to contracts and extended projects during the grant. Key beneficiaries will include our existing industrial partners Micron Semiconductors, Sellafield, NNL, NDA and any future partnerships.
Outreach and School Engagement:
We have a track record in STFC-funded outreach via a Spark Award. Our primary goal is to educate high school pupils in fundamental nuclear physics. We recently initiated a lending scheme for high schools and STEM ambassadors, providing nuclear physics themed kits. One kit is closely linked to our hadron structure theme and can be used to explain dark photon searches and the physics of the EIC. During the grant we will develop a hadron spectroscopy kit to include in our lending materials. We already train PhD students in outreach and will incorporate undergraduate students. It is also our wider vision to address negative connotations of the word "nuclear" and therefore we would like to take outreach materials to as many science festivals as possible, to interact with families. Key beneficiaries will be:
- Undergraduate/postgraduate students:
- STEM ambassadors/high school physics teachers;
- High school physics pupils and members of the public;
- Current/future outreach colleagues, with whom we will share materials.
The detectors, simulation and data analysis tools we develop in our core research are relevant to several applications in other fields. We are heavily involved with knowledge transfer activities and regularly collaborate with researchers from other fields (e.g. computing science or the NHS). Several group members either participate in, serve or have served on a number of cross-disciplinary networks (e.g. chairing the EPC Nuclear Physics Division, or participating in the steering committee of the STFC network in Early Cancer Diagnosis). As a result we have a strong track record in training non-STFC funded PhD students in applied/inter-disciplinary projects. We will continue this during the grant and will apply for future non-STFC funded PhD projects. We have already secured a PhD student funded by the European Spallation Source starting in 2020 and we have applied for an NDA-funded PhD project, both of which will overlap with the grant. For the duration of the grant we will deliver a taught MSc on Nuclear Technology. Key beneficiaries will be MSc and PhD students who will gain technical skills for entering research, data science, or nuclear technology work forces.
Throughout the grant we will seek funding to develop an ultra-fast photon detector offering exceptional performance improvements for applications in different fields relying on precision timing - the radio frequency photomultiplier tube. One possible avenue is within quantum technologies (QT) and we are discussing routes to joint funding with colleagues in this field. Key beneficiaries will include industry partners in different fields from ours, e.g. QT or fluorescence microscopy.
Technology Transfer to Industry:
Several industrial partners will benefit from technologies developed in our research and we will seek several routes to commercialisation. This includes a miniature scintillation detector developed during a recent NDA-funded PhD, and diamond sensor technology which we are developing with Micon Semiconductors Inc. We received an IAA for the diamond sensor studies, the aim of which is to develop an IPS application to run in parallel with the grant. We will seek future commercial customers for our spin-off company Lynkeos Ltd, who currently have a commercial cosmic muon imaging system deployed at Sellafield for imaging shielded nuclear waste containers. We are performing several feasibility studies for purposes such as target monitoring at the ESS, or imaging of civil structures for the German company BAM. If successful, these studies would lead to contracts and extended projects during the grant. Key beneficiaries will include our existing industrial partners Micron Semiconductors, Sellafield, NNL, NDA and any future partnerships.
Outreach and School Engagement:
We have a track record in STFC-funded outreach via a Spark Award. Our primary goal is to educate high school pupils in fundamental nuclear physics. We recently initiated a lending scheme for high schools and STEM ambassadors, providing nuclear physics themed kits. One kit is closely linked to our hadron structure theme and can be used to explain dark photon searches and the physics of the EIC. During the grant we will develop a hadron spectroscopy kit to include in our lending materials. We already train PhD students in outreach and will incorporate undergraduate students. It is also our wider vision to address negative connotations of the word "nuclear" and therefore we would like to take outreach materials to as many science festivals as possible, to interact with families. Key beneficiaries will be:
- Undergraduate/postgraduate students:
- STEM ambassadors/high school physics teachers;
- High school physics pupils and members of the public;
- Current/future outreach colleagues, with whom we will share materials.
Publications
Tyson R
(2023)
Deep learning level-3 electron trigger for CLAS12
in Computer Physics Communications
Khachatryan M
(2021)
Electron-beam energy reconstruction for neutrino oscillation measurements.
in Nature
Zheng X
(2021)
Measurement of the proton spin structure at long distances
in Nature Physics
Margaryan A
(2022)
An RF timer of electrons and photons with the potential to reach picosecond precision
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Mauritzson N
(2022)
Technique for the measurement of intrinsic pulse-shape discrimination for organic scintillators using tagged neutrons
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Paul S
(2023)
Alignment of the CLAS12 central hybrid tracker with a Kalman Filter
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Morán S
(2022)
Measurement of charged-pion production in deep-inelastic scattering off nuclei with the CLAS detector
in Physical Review C
Carman D
(2022)
Beam-recoil transferred polarization in K + Y electroproduction in the nucleon resonance region with CLAS12
in Physical Review C
Adhikari S
(2022)
Measurement of spin density matrix elements in ? ( 1520 ) photoproduction at 8.2-8.8 GeV
in Physical Review C
Adhikari S
(2021)
Measurement of beam asymmetry for p - ? + + photoproduction on the proton at E ? = 8.5 GeV
in Physical Review C
Dupré R
(2021)
Measurement of deeply virtual Compton scattering off He 4 with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer at Jefferson Lab
in Physical Review C
Isupov E
(2022)
Polarized structure function s L T ' from p 0 p electroproduction data in the resonance region at 0.4 GeV 2 < Q 2 < 1.0 GeV 2
in Physical Review C
Smith W
(2023)
Ambiguities in partial wave analysis of two spinless meson photoproduction
in Physical Review D
Adhikari S
(2022)
Search for photoproduction of axionlike particles at GlueX
in Physical Review D
Hayward TB
(2021)
Observation of Beam Spin Asymmetries in the Process ep?e^{'}p^{+}p^{-}X with CLAS12.
in Physical review letters
Diehl S
(2022)
Multidimensional, High Precision Measurements of Beam Single Spin Asymmetries in Semi-inclusive p^{+} Electroproduction off Protons in the Valence Region.
in Physical review letters
Christiaens G
(2023)
First CLAS12 Measurement of Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering Beam-Spin Asymmetries in the Extended Valence Region.
in Physical review letters
Mirazita M
(2021)
Beam Spin Asymmetry in Semi-Inclusive Electroproduction of Hadron Pairs
in Physical Review Letters
Carver M
(2021)
Photoproduction of the f_{2}(1270) Meson Using the CLAS Detector.
in Physical review letters
Rowley J
(2021)
Improved ?p Elastic Scattering Cross Sections between 0.9 and 2.0 GeV/c as a Main Ingredient of the Neutron Star Equation of State.
in Physical review letters
Chatagnon P
(2021)
First Measurement of Timelike Compton Scattering.
in Physical review letters
Mornacchi E
(2022)
Measurement of Compton Scattering at MAMI for the Extraction of the Electric and Magnetic Polarizabilities of the Proton.
in Physical review letters
Korover I
(2021)
12C(e,e'pN) measurements of short range correlations in the tensor-to-scalar interaction transition region
in Physics Letters B
Zachariou N
(2021)
Double polarisation observable G for single pion photoproduction from the proton
in Physics Letters B
Zachariou N
(2022)
Beam-spin asymmetry S for S- hyperon photoproduction off the neutron
in Physics Letters B
Burkert V
(2023)
Precision studies of QCD in the low energy domain of the EIC
in Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics
Tyson R
(2023)
Deep Learning Level-3 Electron Trigger for CLAS12
JPAC Collaboration
(2023)
Ambiguities in Partial Wave Analysis of Two Spinless Meson Photoproduction
CLAS Collaboration
(2022)
First CLAS12 measurement of DVCS beam-spin asymmetries in the extended valence region
Aprahamian A
(2022)
Advanced Radio Frequency Timing AppaRATus (ARARAT) Technique and Applications