Excellence in Research: Subatomic Physics at VUU

提出的研究目标是利用现代核加速器技术了解中子的微观结构；并在这个先进的研究领域培养下一代STEM工作者。弗吉尼亚联合大学是一所历史悠久的黑人学院，拥有多项优秀资产。他们拥有多元化的学生群体，因此能够从传统上代表性不足的本科生群体中招收学生。此外，该大学距离托马斯杰斐逊国家加速器设施（JLAB）只有大约一个小时的车程，因此教师和学生前往JLAB进行实验工作既不困难，也不昂贵。通过这项研究，VUU项目的毕业生将获得实践经验，并成为训练有素的核科学家，能够为国家能源，医疗和安全需求做出重要贡献。该提案描述了对JLAB BONuS12实验的贡献。BONuS12实验旨在测量中子的结构功能。一般来说，文献中缺乏中子结构函数数据，因为不存在纯中子靶，必须从富中子靶（如氘）中推断数据。该项目将通过建立一个慢速控制系统来监测进入目标区域的气体流量，从而显著改善与了解目标密度相关的系统误差，从而为BONuS12实验做出贡献。如果有经验丰富的教师指导，这是一个理想的本科项目。PI还将参与F2结构功能数据的分析。结构功能分析项目不是一个大学生可以单独完成的任务，但分析的要素是大学生可以接近的，分析将成为学生在现代数据处理和分析技术方面的一个很好的教程。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The goal of the proposed research is to understand the microscopic structure of the neutron using modern nuclear accelerator techniques; and to train the next generation of STEM workers in this advanced field of research. Virginia Union University is a Historically Black College with several oustanding assets. They have a diverse student body and so are able to recruit from an undergraduate population of traditionally under-represented groups. In addition, the University is only about an hour's drive from the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLAB) and so it is neither difficult, nor expensive, for the faculty and students to travel to JLAB to do their experimental work. Through this research, graduates of the VUU program will receive hands-on experience and emerge as well-trained nuclear scientists who are capable of important contributions to national energy, medical, and security needs.The proposal describes contributions to the BONuS12 experiment at JLAB. The BONuS12 experiment is designed to measure the structure function of the neutron. In general, there is a lack of neutron structure function data in the literature because a pure neutron target does not exist and thus the data must be inferred from neutron rich targets (such as deuterium). This project will contribute to the BONuS12 experiment by significantly improving the systematic errors associated with knowing the density of the target by building a slow controls system to monitor the flow of gas into the target region. This is an ideal undergraduate project when mentored by an experienced faculty member. The PI will also participate in the analysis of the F2 structure function data. The structure function analysis project is not a task that undergraduates can complete, alone, but elements of the analysis are approachable by undergraduates and the analyses will serve as a excellent tutorial for the students in modern data handling and analysis techniques.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.