The research supported by this award investigates: (1) How the spin of the proton is distributed among its parts. Particles emitted when high-energy beams of spin-aligned protons collide in the STAR detector at Brookhaven National Laboratory's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider can reveal how much of the proton's spin is carried by its gluons or by different types of quarks and anti-quarks. The group will search for the gluon contribution to the spin of the proton and explore spin differences among antiquarks. They will also measure how polarized quarks turn into mesons and baryons and search for indications that strongly interacting matter breaks mirror symmetry;(2) The properties and interactions of neutrinos. Neutrinos can change from one form to another, but all the evidence doesn't quite fit at low energies. They will study the reasons for the larger-than-expected neutrino interactions they have measured; (3) How strong the weak force really is. They will gain new insights by observing the angular distribution of the particles created when a neutron decays, and by testing whether nature respects mirror symmetry as neutrons get captured in hydrogen; and (4) What are the properties of the early universe. They will sharpen theoretical predictions of the amount of helium left over in the Big Bang by measuring the decay rate of the neutron.
Their research activities educate the next generation of skilled PhD scientists for jobs in research and teaching universities, industry and national labs, and medical and computer technology. They redirected their cyclotrons to form the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute, which has treated more than 1000 cancer patients. They co-organize and lecture at summer schools. They participate in the NSF REU program. They mentor their postdocs to facilitate their future entry into teaching and research institutions and the scientific community. They develop undergraduate laboratories emphasizing nuclear technology, bring undergraduates on field trips and assist with programs that encourage pre-college participation in the Indiana University science curriculum. They engage bright young undergraduates in science through jobs or projects which develop the research skills they will need for success in graduate school. They reach out to the local community through a variety of activities to awaken the interest of students in our local public school system by visiting local high school science classes, acting as judges in local science fairs and for the State Science Olympiad, and presenting physics demonstrations at the Indiana State Fair. They actively recruit female and minority applicants for positions at all levels within the group and the physics department by serving on selection committees for faculty searches and research fellowships for women. They work to make their activities known to the public at large through laboratory tours and Open House presentations, science cafe discussions, radio interviews, and press releases in the local media.
