EAGER: Investigating the Use of Carbon Monofilament Wires to Improve the Design of the Slow Proton Recoil Detector for the Jefferson Lab BONuS12 Experiment

美国国家科学基金会使用探索性研究的早期概念拨款（EAGER）资助机制来支持在未经测试但具有潜在变革性的研究思路或方法的早期阶段的探索性工作。这个EAGER项目是由于Dear Colleague Letter NSF 16-080邀请来自历史上的黑人学院和大学的申请者提交提案，以加强该机构教师的研究能力而获得的。汉普顿大学的这个项目旨在研究在漂移室中使用单丝碳线的优点，并开发一种低反冲质子探测器。如果这个项目成功，所得到的知识可以用来开发未来的碳纳米管线室，这可能是实验核物理和粒子物理的一个变革性发展。这个项目包括在汉普顿大学培训下一代物理学家。作为该项目的一部分，对BONuS12探测器阴极层和/或额外的内线室使用单质悲声线的调查将与目前计划的开发工作并行进行，但风险较低，设计。目前的项目是第一个研究在圆柱形探测器中使用这种电线的项目之一。更普遍的是，由于传统金属线潜在地显著减少了能量损失，使用单碳材料对于需要检测和跟踪低动量质子和原子核的实验来说可能是一个福音。制造导电性超过铜线的碳纳米管线的技术现在刚刚成为可能，在未来几年内可能实现大规模生产。该项目由教育与人力资源部和数学与物理科学局共同资助。

The National Science Foundation uses the Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) funding mechanism to support exploratory work in its early stages on untested, but potentially transformative, research ideas or approaches. This EAGER project was awarded as a result of the invitation in the Dear Colleague Letter NSF 16-080 to proposers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities to submit proposals that would strengthen research capacity of faculty at the institution. The project at Hampton University aims to study the merits of using monofiliment carbon wires in drift chambers, and to develop a low recoil proton detector. If this project succeeds, the resulting knowledge can be used to develop future carbon nanotube wire chambers, which would be a possibly transformative development in experimental nuclear and particle physics. The project involves training of the next generation of physicists at Hampton University.As part of the project, the investigation into the usage of carbon mono lament wires for construction of the cathode layer and/or an additional inner wire chamber for the BONuS12 detector will be carried out in parallel with development work on the currently planned, but lower risk, design. The current project is one of the first to investigate usage of such wires in an cylindrical detector. More generally, the usage of carbon mono laments could be a boon for experiments requiring detection and tracking of low momentum protons and nuclei due to the potentially significant reduction in energy lost over traditional metal wires. The technology for producing carbon nanotube wires offering conductivity surpassing that of copper wires has just now become available, with mass production likely available over the next few years.This EAGER is co-funded by the Directorates for Education & Human Resources and Mathematical & Physical Sciences.