MPS-Ascend: Hadronic Physics at Arizona State University

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。Brandon Sumner被授予NSF数学和物理科学提升博士后研究奖学金，以开展一项关于奇异强子物质的研究计划，并开展与扩大STEM中代表性不足群体参与相关的活动。宇宙中可见的大部分物质都是由相互作用的夸克组成的束缚系统，这些夸克被称为强子。大多数强子包含三个夸克（重子）或一个夸克和反夸克对（介子）。除了三个束缚夸克或一个夸克和反夸克对之外的任何束缚系统都被称为“外来”强子，萨姆纳的研究旨在探测和理解这些不寻常形式的强子物质。Sumner已经是美国物理学会包容、多样性和公平联盟的成员，他将继续授权和支持物理系、实验室和其他组织确定和制定改善公平、多样性和包容性的战略。该奖学金的主办机构是亚利桑那州立大学，赞助科学家是迈克尔·达格博士。布兰登·萨姆纳将对夸克的新状态进行研究，重点是对夸克的奇异强子状态进行实验测量，并开发仪器来表征用于创建和检测感兴趣的强子状态的光束。具体来说，他将测量激发态级联的性质，同时使用杰斐逊实验室GlueX探测器的数据寻找新的状态。萨姆纳将参与外展活动，以增加来自代表性不足群体的物理学家的代表性，并将与亚利桑那州立大学物理系系主任帕特里夏·兰金教授（共同发起人）合作，亲自向K-12学生进行外展。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。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Brandon Sumner is awarded an NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to conduct a program of research on exotic hadronic matter and activities related to broadening participation by groups underrepresented in STEM. Most of the visible mass of the universe is made of bound systems of interacting quarks called hadrons. Most of the hadrons contain either three quarks (baryons) or a quark and anti-quark pair (mesons). A bound system of anything other than three bound quarks or a quark and anti-quark pair is called an “exotic” hadron and Sumner’s research is aimed at detecting and understanding those unusual forms of hadronic matter. Sumner is already a member of his home institution’s division of the American Physical Society Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Alliance, and will continue to empower and support physics departments, laboratories, and other organizations to identify and enact strategies for improving equity, diversity, and inclusion. The host institution for the fellowship is Arizona State University and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Michael Dugger.Brandon Sumner will conduct a study on new states of quarks centered on experimental measurements of exotic hadronic states of quarks and on the development of instruments to characterize the beams used to create and detect the hadronic states of interest. Specifically, he will measure properties of excited cascade states while searching for new states using data from the GlueX detector at the Jefferson Lab. Sumner will engage in outreach to increase the representation of physicists from underrepresented groups and will collaborate in in-person outreach to K-12 students with the Chair of the Physics Department at Arizona State University, Prof. Patricia Rankin, who is a cosponsor.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.