The Parity Violating Electron Scattering Program of Louisiana Tech University

亚原子物理学的一个中心目标是全面了解物质的基本“构建块”，以及它们如何相互作用。自近50年前提出以来，核物理和粒子物理的“标准模型”取得了显著的成功，使我们能够描述大量的物理现象。然而，我们知道它是不完整的，而且有令人信服的理由说明为什么标准模型最终会崩溃，无法描述物质的某些特性。使用电子加速器的精密测量为检验粒子物理学的标准模型和寻找新的物理学提供了机会。位于弗吉尼亚州纽波特纽斯的托马斯·杰斐逊国家加速器设施（杰斐逊实验室）是目前世界领先的实验室，可以通过电子散射实验对标准模型进行精确测试。该项目将支持在杰斐逊实验室的大型合作实验（MOLLER）中精确测定电子的弱电荷。电弱混合角是粒子物理标准模型中电弱部分的一个基本参数，将特定能量尺度下的测量值与预测值进行比较，可以灵敏地搜索标准模型之外的物理。路易斯安那理工大学核物理小组将与其他美国和国际小组合作，在低动量转移下使用违反奇偶电子技术测量低能量下的弱混合角；Q2 0.20 GeV/c2LTU小组工作的主要目标是为MOLLER实验设计和开发电荷粒子探测系统，为偏振计设计电子探测器，为MOLLER设计辐射屏蔽措施，并对实验结果进行理论解释。此外，该小组将完成发表先前在杰斐逊实验室进行的实验的结果：Q-weak。路易斯安那理工大学位于路易斯安那州北部的农村地区。近年来，周围所有的大学都取消了物理系，使路易斯安那理工学院成为北路易斯安那州唯一的物理学本科或研究生课程。LTU致力于本科生参与研究是他们开设物理学本科课程的原因之一。美国国家科学基金会的资金将使来自几个学科、工程师、科学教师和高中生的代表性不足的群体参与最前沿的物理研究。该项目由物理部和促进竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。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。

A central goal of subatomic physics is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the basic "building blocks" of matter, and how they interact with each other. Since its formulation nearly five decades ago, the “Standard Model” of nuclear and particle physics has been remarkably successful and allows us to describe a vast range of physical phenomena. It is known, however, to be incomplete, and there are compelling reasons why the Standard Model should eventually break down and fail to describe some properties of matter. Precision measurements using electron accelerators present an opportunity to test the Standard Model of particle physics and to search for new physics. The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) in Newport News, Virginia is currently the world's leading laboratory enabling precision tests of the Standard Model through electron scattering experiments. This project will support an effort to precisely determine the weak charge of the electron in a large collaborative experiment, known as MOLLER, at Jefferson Lab. The electroweak mixing angle is a fundamental parameter of the electroweak sector of the standard model of particle physics and a comparison of the measured value, at a particular energy scale, with the predicted value allows for a sensitive search for physics beyond the standard model. The Louisiana Tech University nuclear physics group will collaborate with other US and International groups to measure the weak mixing angle at low energy using parity-violating electron techniques at low momentum transfer; 4.5 x 10-3 GeV/c2 Q2 0.20 GeV/c2. The main goals of the LTU group’s work will be to design and develop charge particle detection systems for the MOLLER experiment, design an electron detector for a polarimeter, design radiation shielding measures for MOLLER, and develop a theoretical interpretation of the experimental results. In addition, the group will finish publishing the results from a prior experiment at Jefferson Lab: Q-weak. Louisiana Tech University is located in a rural area of Northern Louisiana. In recent years, all of the surrounding universities have eliminated their physics departments leaving the Louisiana Tech program as the only physics undergraduate or graduate program available in Northern Louisiana. The LTU commitment to the involvement of undergraduates in research is one of the reasons they have a physics undergraduate program. The NSF funding will enable underrepresented groups from several disciplines, engineers, science teachers, and high school students to participate in forefront physics research.This project is jointly funded by the Physics Division and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.