RUI: Detectors to Explore Quarks and Leptons

该项目旨在将对研究的重要贡献与为有前途的本科生提供的教育经验相结合。詹姆斯·麦迪逊大学粒子和核物理小组由乔瓦内蒂博士、尼库列斯库博士和一群本科生组成，正在托马斯·杰斐逊国家加速器设施(TJNAF)和保罗谢勒研究所(PSI)进行中能核物理领域的研究。该小组成员积极参与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作出贡献。该小组也是PSI(Muon Lifetime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，这些粒子是原子核的基本构件。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。地心引力将夸克聚集在一起。据信，这些部队的基本性质是可以理解的。然而，目前还没有关于三夸克系统的完整图景。探索质子和中子的性质的研究将澄清重要的成分，测试模型和近似的有效性，也许还会发现需要更仔细研究潜在理论的新特征。技术的进步和理论物理的进步创造了提高我们对另一种基本相互作用--弱力--强度的认识的机会。通过测量Muon的寿命，可以得到Fermi耦合常数。这个常量决定弱力的强度，就像电荷决定电磁力的强度一样。目标是将这个测量值提高到每个million.***************************************************--Giovanetti的一部分，电子邮件：Kevin 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