| NSF Org: |
PHY Division Of Physics |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 18, 2015 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 18, 2015 |
| Award Number: | 1531763 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Allena K. Opper
aopper@nsf.gov (703)292-8958 PHY Division Of Physics MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
| Start Date: | August 15, 2015 |
| End Date: | July 31, 2016 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $75,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $75,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
200 W WARD ST SPRINGFIELD OH US 45504-2120 (937)327-7930 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
OH US 45501-0720 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Major Research Instrumentation |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): | |
| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.049 |
ABSTRACT
The weak interaction, one of the four fundamental forces of nature, is responsible for the type of radioactive decay called beta decay. Precise measurements of beta decay can probe the limits of our understanding of the weak interaction, complementing particle collider experiments in the search for new physics while being much less costly. The recent development of facilities, such as at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, that can produce a variety of beams of radioactive isotopes has created new opportunities for improved beta decay measurements. To fully exploit the potential of these new isotopes requires a good understanding of the response of various types of particle detectors. Understanding the response of particle detectors is also important for many applications in homeland security, nuclear safeguards, and medicine. The instrument to be acquired through this grant will enable the measurement of the response of a variety of particle detectors to a new level of precision over a wide energy range.
Precise measurements of the shapes of spectra in nuclear beta decay are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model of particle interactions. The recent development of powerful radioactive beam facilities has created a new opportunity for improved measurements of nuclear beta spectrum shapes through implantation of the nuclei in detectors that fully contain the emitted particles. In the ideal case, this provides measurements free of many of the systematic effects more conventional beta spectroscopy is subject to. Fully exploiting the potential of the new detector method, however, requires precise knowledge of implantation detector response. This detector response characterization is the primary research to be enabled by the proposed acquisition of an all-digital multi-parameter gamma spectroscopy system. The basis of the characterizations is the Wide Angle Compton Coincidence technique. This technique uses Compton scattering with standard gamma sources of modest strength to characterize the energy dependent electron response of essentially any detector material relative to, for example, a High Purity Germanium detector. The system acquired under this proposal will enable the measurement of the nonlinearity of a wide variety of detectors to a new level of precision and over a wider energy range than presently exists.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Many lines of evidence indicate our present understanding of the basic interactions among particles in nature is incomplete. Investigations of the weak interaction have historically been fruitful in the search to clarify our understanding, in part because of its breaking of fundamental symmetries (parity symmetry, CP symmetry) other interactions obey. Precision measurements of the predictions of the weak interaction can provide evidence for or put tighter limits on physics beyond our current understanding.
The PIs research to do this involves carefully measuring the shape of the energy spectra in beta decay and comparing to predictions based on our best current understanding. To measure the shape correctly, we must be sure our detectors do not distort the shape and give us a false-positive result. If a detector does not distort the shape, we call it linear. This major goal of this award was to purchase a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector (whose linearity is well established) and a data acquisition system to measure the linearity of the detectors we use in the shape measurements.The complete system, consisting of the HPGe detector and the data acquisition system, has been installed and tested, and measurements of detector linearity are being undertaken by the PIs and an undergraduate student researcher. The system will be made available for use by researchers at other institutions.This state-of-the-art system will also be available for student-faculty research and for use in advanced laboratory classes--we therefore expect it to prepare our students well for moving into technical fields of work or research after graduation.
Last Modified: 10/24/2016
Modified by: Paul Voytas
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