Nuclear Physics Part 2: The GlueX Project UConn Mentor Connection Mariel Tader Mentor: Dr. Richard Jones

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mariel Tader 2 The Project Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility The collaboration Will be the first to observe and study exotic mesons Will begin 2014

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mariel Tader 3 GlueX hopes to learn about quarks, gluons, and confinement by creating exotic mesons How we “see” the gluons: Polarized beam liquid hydrogen target exotic mesons final particles and radiation data deciphered

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mariel Tader 4 The Process Electron beam diamond wafer polarized photons hit mesons detectors

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mariel Tader 5 Bremsstrahlung German for “braking radiation” A radiation particle interacts with atoms and creates more radiation, while losing the corresponding energy Atom

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mariel Tader 6 Coherent Bremsstrahlung Requirements: Must be in a crystal Particle/crystal must be in correct alignment A few specific wavelengths are prevalent, “peaks”

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mariel Tader 7 Reciprocal Lattice Vectors Bravais Lattice: repeating crystalline arrangements of points Reciprocal Lattice: made from the vectors perpendicular to three of the vectors of the original lattice Used as a simple geometric model that can interpret diffraction in crystals

UConn Mentor Connection 2010, Mariel Tader 8 Thank You for Listening Questions? Interesting Facts: Within the detector’s first year, it will collect more data than all existing data of this type by several orders of magnitude The forces along the gluon flux tube are about 16 tons