Precision Electromagnetic Studies of the Structure of Few Body Nuclei and Nucleons at Jefferson Lab

加州州立大学洛杉矶分校的核物理小组研究低质量原子核的结构，以及中子和质子的结构。这些研究使用了托马斯·杰斐逊国家实验室的高能电子加速器，以及其他地点的类似低能电子加速器。在目前的研究期间，我们将带领一个小组研究氦最常见的同位素氦-4的核结构。氦-4是测试中子、质子和奇异粒子如何结合形成核基态的理论模型的优秀实验室。氦-4也特别令人感兴趣，因为宇宙中约25%的可见质量被氦-4原子核束缚。了解这个原子核将告诉我们一些关于可见宇宙的很大组成部分的重要信息，也将成为核理论的试验场。本科生和研究生都参与了我们的研究。这些学生以毫无意义的方式参与研究，直接与我们合作或团队合作。他们将进行数据整理和分析，为经批准的实验的实验设备的建设做出贡献，参与运行实验，并学习如何使用蒙特卡罗模拟技术来理解复杂的设备。我们的目标是让学生在他们的大学生涯中尽快进入研究领域。这种经历对我们的学生很有帮助，无论是他们决定继续研究生水平的研究，还是进入行业，他们在解决复杂问题的团队合作方面的背景将是一个优势。高中科学教师也为我们的研究工作做出了贡献，他们进行了数据整理和分析。我们希望有教师用我们的数据写一篇物理学硕士论文。

The nuclear physics group at California State University, Los Angeles,studies nuclear structure of low mass nuclei and the structure of theneutron and proton. These studies use the high energy electronaccelerator at Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory, and similar lowerenergy accelerators at other sites. In the present research period wewill be leading a group to study the nuclear structure of the mostcommon isotope of helium, helium-4. Helium-4 is an excellent laboratoryfor testing theoretical models of how neutrons, protons and exoticparticles combine to form the nuclear ground state. Helium-4 is also ofparticular interest because about 25% of the visible mass in theuniverse is bound up in helium-4 nuclei. Understanding this nucleus willtell us something significant about a large component of the visibleuniverse, as well as serve as a testing ground for nuclear theories.Undergraduate students and graduate students are significantly involvedwith our research. These students participate in the research inmeaningful ways, working directly with us or in teams. They will do andhave done data reduction and analysis, contributed to the constructionof experimental equipment for approved experiments, participated inrunning the experiments, and learned how to use Monte Carlo simulationtechniques in understanding complex pieces of apparatus. Our goal is tobring students into a research experience as soon as possible in theircollege careers. This experience serves our students well, either ifthey decide to go on to graduate level research, or to enter industry,where their background in team work to solve complex problems will be anadvantage. High School science teachers have also contributed to ourresearch effort by doing data reduction and analysis. We hope to have ateacher do a Master's thesis in physics using our data.