Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in Nuclear Physics

Hicks, S. F.; Nguyen, T. D.; Jackson, D. T.; Block, S. G.; Byrd, S. T.; Nickel, M. T.; Vanhoy, J. R.; Peters, E. E.; Ramirez, A. P. D.; McEllistrem, M. T.; Mukhopadhyay, S.; Yates, S. W.

doi:10.1016/j.phpro.2017.09.024

Title: Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in Nuclear Physics

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Abstract

University of Dallas (UD) physics majors are offered a variety of undergraduate research opportunities in nuclear physics through an established program at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory (UKAL). The 7-MV Model CN Van de Graaff accelerator and the neutron production and detection facilities located there are used by UD students to investigate how neutrons scatter from materials that are important in nuclear energy production and for our basic understanding of how neutrons interact with matter. Recent student projects include modeling of the laboratory using the neutron transport code MCNP to investigate the effectiveness of laboratory shielding, testing the long-term gain stability of C₆D₆ liquid scintillation detectors, and deducing neutron elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections for ¹²C. Finally, results of these student projects are presented that indicate the pit below the scattering area reduces background by as much as 30%; the detectors show no significant gain instabilities; and new insights into existing ¹²C neutron inelastic scattering cross-section discrepancies near a neutron energy of 6.0 MeV are obtained.

Authors:

Hicks, S. F. ^[1]; Nguyen, T. D. ^[1]; Jackson, D. T. ^[1]; Block, S. G. ^[1]; Byrd, S. T. ^[1]; Nickel, M. T. ^[1]; Vanhoy, J. R. ^[2]; Peters, E. E. ^[3]; Ramirez, A. P. D. ^[4]; McEllistrem, M. T. ^[5]; Mukhopadhyay, S. ^[4]; Yates, S. W. ^[4]

Univ. of Dallas, Irving, TX (United States). Dept. of Physics
U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD (United States). Dept. of Physics
Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States). Dept. of Chemistry; Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy

Publication Date:: Thu Oct 26 00:00:00 EDT 2017

Research Org.:: Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States). Research Foundation

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

OSTI Identifier:: 1415232

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0002931; PHY-1606890

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Physics Procedia

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 90; Journal Issue: C; Conference: CAARI2016, Conference on Applications of Accelerators in Research and Industry, Ft Worth, TX (United States), 30 Oct-04 Nov 2016; Journal ID: ISSN 1875-3892

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; Undergraduate research; MCNP calculations; neutron cross sections.

Citation Formats


                    Hicks, S. F., Nguyen, T. D., Jackson, D. T., Block, S. G., Byrd, S. T., Nickel, M. T., Vanhoy, J. R., Peters, E. E., Ramirez, A. P. D., McEllistrem, M. T., Mukhopadhyay, S., and Yates, S. W. Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in Nuclear Physics.  United States: N. p., 2017. 
Web.  doi:10.1016/j.phpro.2017.09.024.

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                    Hicks, S. F., Nguyen, T. D., Jackson, D. T., Block, S. G., Byrd, S. T., Nickel, M. T., Vanhoy, J. R., Peters, E. E., Ramirez, A. P. D., McEllistrem, M. T., Mukhopadhyay, S., & Yates, S. W. Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in Nuclear Physics.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phpro.2017.09.024

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                    Hicks, S. F., Nguyen, T. D., Jackson, D. T., Block, S. G., Byrd, S. T., Nickel, M. T., Vanhoy, J. R., Peters, E. E., Ramirez, A. P. D., McEllistrem, M. T., Mukhopadhyay, S., and Yates, S. W. Thu .  
"Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in Nuclear Physics".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phpro.2017.09.024.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1415232.

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@article{osti_1415232,

  title        = {Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in Nuclear Physics},

  author       = {Hicks, S. F. and Nguyen, T. D. and Jackson, D. T. and Block, S. G. and Byrd, S. T. and Nickel, M. T. and Vanhoy, J. R. and Peters, E. E. and Ramirez, A. P. D. and McEllistrem, M. T. and Mukhopadhyay, S. and Yates, S. W.},

  abstractNote = {University of Dallas (UD) physics majors are offered a variety of undergraduate research opportunities in nuclear physics through an established program at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory (UKAL). The 7-MV Model CN Van de Graaff accelerator and the neutron production and detection facilities located there are used by UD students to investigate how neutrons scatter from materials that are important in nuclear energy production and for our basic understanding of how neutrons interact with matter. Recent student projects include modeling of the laboratory using the neutron transport code MCNP to investigate the effectiveness of laboratory shielding, testing the long-term gain stability of C6D6 liquid scintillation detectors, and deducing neutron elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections for 12C. Finally, results of these student projects are presented that indicate the pit below the scattering area reduces background by as much as 30%; the detectors show no significant gain instabilities; and new insights into existing 12C neutron inelastic scattering cross-section discrepancies near a neutron energy of 6.0 MeV are obtained.},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.phpro.2017.09.024},

  journal      = {Physics Procedia},

  number       = C,

  volume       = 90,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Thu Oct 26 00:00:00 EDT 2017},

  month        = {Thu Oct 26 00:00:00 EDT 2017}

}

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