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outreach

PghCUWiP 2020

less than 1 minute read

In my opinion, one of the coolest events for women in physics is the American Physical Society’s Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP). We hosted a regional site in Pittsburgh for the 2020 conference, and it was SUPER rewarding to be involved in the planning.

research

Neutron Background Monitoring

less than 1 minute read

Our neutron flux is measured, using the Multiplicity and Recoil Spectrometer (MARS) developed by Sandia National Laboratories. This portable neutron detector contains layers of EJ200 plastic scintillator and Gd-coated Mylar, and has 16 PMTs looking for any light. In this detector, an incoming neutron has a two-step process: it will cause protons to recoil within a scintillating layer and slow down, and it will then get captured on a Gd nucleus in a paint layer.

Neutrino Flux Simulations

less than 1 minute read

Our neutrino flux estimates come from simulating the neutrino production at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennesee. The SNS accelerates packets of protons to 1 GeV, then smashes them into a liquid mercury target. Think about the break shot in a pool game. You accelerate the cue ball, aim at the rack, and knock all the individual balls away from the initially organized setup. At the SNS, the proton is the cue ball and the nucleus of a single mercury atom is the rack, but our solids and stripes are unstable fragments of an atomic nucleus that decay into neutrinos:

talks

teaching