RUI: Detectors to Explore Quarks and Leptons

该项目旨在将重要的研究成果与有前途的本科生的教育经验结合起来。詹姆斯·麦迪逊大学粒子与核物理小组由吉奥瓦内蒂博士、尼古列斯库博士和一群本科生组成，他们正在托马斯·杰斐逊国家加速器设施（TJNAF）和保罗·舍勒研究所（PSI）进行中能核物理领域的研究。小组成员积极参与TJNAF正在进行的研究，并通过设计和测试设备，参与数据采集和执行数据分析做出贡献。该小组也是PSI （μ子寿命实验）正在进行的一项实验的关键合作者。该项目将探索质子和中子等粒子的丰富结构，它们是原子核的基本组成部分。人们普遍认为质子和中子是由三个夸克构成的。这些夸克被视为具有简单性质的基本粒子。胶子力使夸克聚集在一起。人们相信力的基本性质已经被理解了。然而，目前还没有一个完整的三夸克体系的图像。研究质子和中子的性质将澄清重要的成分，测试模型和近似的有效性，并可能发现需要更仔细地观察基础理论的新特征。技术的进步和理论物理学的进步创造了机会，使我们有机会进一步了解另一种基本相互作用的强度，即弱力。通过测量μ子的寿命，可以提取出费米耦合常数。这个常数决定弱力的强度，就像电荷决定电磁力的强度一样。目标是将测量值提高到百万分之一。***************************************************-- Giovanetti,凯文Lgiovankl@jmu.edu

This project is designed to integrate important contributions to research with an educational experience for promising undergraduate students. The James Madison University Particle and Nuclear Physics Group, consisting of Dr. Giovanetti, Dr. Niculescu, and a group of undergraduate students, is conducting research in the area of Intermediate Energy Nuclear Physics at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, TJNAF, and at the Paul Scherrer Institute, PSI. The members of the group are actively involved in the ongoing research at TJNAF and are contributing by designing and testing equipment, participating in data taking and performing data analysis. This group is also a key collaborator in an experiment underway at PSI (Muon Lifetime Experiment).The project will explore the rich structure of particles like the proton and the neutron, which are the basic building blocks of the atomic nucleus. It is widely held that protons and neutrons are built out of three quarks. These quarks are viewed as fundamental particles that have simple properties. Gluonic forces hold the quarks together. The basic nature of the forces are believed to be understood. However there is not yet a complete picture of the three-quark system. Studies that probe the nature of the proton, and the neutron will clarify the important ingredients, test the validity of models and approximations, and perhaps discover new features that require a closer look at the underlying theory.Improvements in technology and progress in theoretical physics have created the opportunity to improve our knowledge of the strength of another basic interaction, the weak force. By measuring the lifetime of the muon the Fermi coupling constant can be extracted. This constant determines the strength of the weak force in the same manner as electric charge determines the strength of the electromagnetic force. The goal is to improve this measured value to one part per million.***************************************************-- Giovanetti, Kevin Lgiovankl@jmu.edu