Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in Nuclear Physics
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:
-
- 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:
- 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.
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
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.
@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}
}
Web of Science