Nuclear and particle physics

Work on two projects was undertaken on site at CERN in Geneva. First the design of Beam Condition Monitor (BCM) signal readout electronics and second, the Beam Scintillator (BSC) hardware tests. An MSc thesis on the capability of the CMS detector to study Pb-Pb collisions was the first in depth study of a simulation code (HYDJET) that is rapidly becoming the de facto event generator for high energy nuclear physics.

For more information on the research area above, please contact:

Doctor David Krofcheck
Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 88897
Email: d.krofcheck@auckland.ac.nz

Or visit the profile of Doctor David Krofcheck.
 

Research continued with the programme at The Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, to measure parameters of super allowed positron decays with high precision. The experiment for the determination of the50Mn halflife was finished and the results published in Physical Review C. The programme has continued with the start of an experiment to measure the halflife of 10C. Sufficient initial data has been taken to show that the method envisaged was completely inadequate and necessary changes have been made and will be tested.

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Associate Professor Paul Barker
Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 88836
Email: p.barker@auckland.ac.nz

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A high purity germanium detector is currently mounted on the roof of the physics building. Systematic background and test data, collected in 2005, showed the system was working well, with very low levels of background gamma rays from uranium progeny (mostly radon). In 2006 we concentrated on collecting gamma ray spectra over seasons and weather conditions. A summer student is currently automating the data analysis of this massive data set. Preliminary results show an expected diurnal variation in overall gamma ray flux - due to radon gas emanation - but at a substantially lower variation in magnitude when compared against ground-based gamma ray measurements.

For more information on the research area above, please contact:

Doctor David Krofcheck
Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 88897
Email: d.krofcheck@auckland.ac.nz

Or visit the profile of Doctor David Krofcheck.
 

This research project proposed a physical interpretation of recent data by CERN on high-energy photon-photon interactions that are inconsistent with fractionally charged quarks.

For more information on this research area, please contact:

Associate Professor Philip Yock
Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 88867
Email: p.yock@auckland.ac.nz

Or visit the profile of Associate Professor Philip Yock.