Nuclear Physics UConn Mentor Connection Mariel Tader

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 2 The Standard Model Describes three of the four “fundamental” forces Electromagnetism, weak and strong interactions There are 12 different kinds of elementary particles

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 3 The Forces Electromagnetism: why opposites attract Biology/ Chemistry Strong Force: holds quarks together Weak Force: mediates fundamental particle decay (Gravity): not included in Standard Model

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 4 Electroweak Theory Electromagnetism and weak force are two different aspects of the same force: electroweak The two merge into the same force at high energies and close distance

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 5 The particles 6 Quarks: make up protons, neutrons, etc. 6 Leptons: electrons, neutrinos, etc. Force carriers: gluons for strong force, etc. Weak force’s range The three generations

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 6 Antimatter Each type of particle has a comparable anti-particle The same properties, except charge The mystery: why so much more matter? Annihilation: matter and antimatter collide a Z boson/gluon/photon form decay into new matter/ antimatter pair

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 7 The Nucleus Quarks: come in threes (protons/ neutrons/ etc.) or twos (mesons) Gluons: hold quarks together, force carrier particle for strong force

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 8 Quantum Numbers Electric Charge: all particles except quarks have integer charge, quark charges add to whole numbers Flavor: different kinds of quarks/ leptons Spin: goes by 1/2s, particles/ nuclei Lepton/baryon numbers, etc. Color Charge: gets its own slide Angular momentum/ momentum: location Weak Charge: strength of weak force

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 9 Color Charge Why quarks come in threes or twos: neutral charge Why quarks stay together: color force field Quark: 1 of 3 colors Anti-quark: 1 of 3 anti-colors Gluon color charges: 1 color and 1 anti-color combination

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 10 Bosons and Fermions Pauli Exclusion Principle: “two particles can’t have identical sets of quantum numbers” Fermions: obey Pauli Bosons: violate Pauli

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 11 Radiation Unstable nuclei decay Alpha: release of 2 protons/2 neutrons (helium nucleus) Beta: release of an electron Gamma: release of photons (as gamma rays) Neutron radiation: like it sounds

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 12 Fundamental Particle Decay Unlike atoms, fundamentals can not break into constituents To become a less massive particle: 1.Emit a force carrier (W boson) “virtual” 2.W boson immediately decays into lighter particles

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 13 Virtual Particles Can not be detected directly Can break “conservation of energy” for a very short time You can not see virtual particles, but you can see the before and after

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 14 The Project Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator The collaboration Will be the first to observe and study exotic mesons Will begin 2014

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 15 gluex GlueX hopes to learn about quarks, gluons, and confinement by creating exotic mesons How we “see” the gluons: Polarized beam liquid hydrogen target exotic mesons final particles and radiation data deciphered

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 16 Bremsstrahlung German for “braking radiation” A radiation particle interacts with atoms and creates more radiation, while losing the corresponding energy Atom

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 17 Coherent Bremsstrahlung Must be in a crystal Particle/crystal must be in correct alignment A few specific wavelengths are prevalent, “peaks”

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 18 Reciprocal Lattice Vectors Bravais Lattice: repeating crystalline arrangements of points Reciprocal Lattice: made from the vectors perpendicular to three of the vectors of the original Used as a simple geometric model that can interpret diffraction in crystals

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 19 Framing the Crystal A frame would produce too much unwanted bremms. diamond is mounted on tiny carbon fibers The resonant frequency of the fibers should be known, to minimize rotation

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 20 Vibration Interference: two or more superimposed waves create a new wave pattern: need coherent bremss. Resonant frequency: An objects natural frequency of vibration Gluonic flux tube vibration is like a string

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 21 The Carbon Wire The theoretical model vs. the experimental data How we modeled it The glue ball equation How we measured it Uncertainty bars

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 22 Polarization The orientation of the wave’s electric/ magnetic fields Transverse wave: polarization is perpendicular to wave’s direction Linear Polarization: the electric or magnetic field is oriented in one direction, i.e. no rotation (chirality)

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mari Tader 23 Putting it all together The process: Electron beam diamond wafer polarized photons hit mesons detectors