Well, it's over, and I've graduated from the
University of Minnesota.
My thesis (1.4 MB zipped) work was on
the muon g-2
experiment which has a goal of measuring the anomalous magnetic moment,
a, of the muon to a precision of 0.35 parts per million (ppm). The anomalous
a-factor (which is related to the Lande g-factor by a = (g-2)/2) is a
measure of the magnetic moment of the the muon's virtual cloud of particles,
and its value has been calculated to a high precision in the Standard Model:
a(SM) = 0.001 165 917 7(7). The result from our 1999 data run gives
a(mu+) = 0.001 165 920 2(14)(6), a 1.3 ppm measurement uncertainty!
The measurement differs from the SM prediction by 1.5 sigmas,
a(mu+) - a(SM) = 25(17)x10^(-12). For details see the March 12
issue of Physical Review Letters, PRL, March 12, 2001.
I'm currently working on the Cryogenic
Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment. CDMS is a direct search for elastic
scattering of WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) from cryogenic
detectors made of Germanium/Silicon semiconductors and instrumented with novel QET
(Quasiparticle-trap-assisted Electrothermal-feedback Transition-edge) sensors.
The detectors operate at temperatures of about 50 mK (cold huh?)
The latest results
from the first data run at the Soudan deep site
has produced the most sensitive limit for the WIMP-nucleon coherent scalar scattering
cross section. But no WIMP seen yet (well, besides the nerdy physicists) -- stay tuned!
CDMS DAQ Links:
DAQ2 software (CORBA-based)
EVB software (based on FNL Run II software)
SIS3301 firm_up 1
SIS3301 firm_up 2
CDMS PPT Talks:
Trinity High School Seminar
CDMS Working Links:
pipefit-howto (PPT)
pipefit-howto (PDF)
MISC Links:
Old CERN packages (158 MB tarred file)
Useful Physics Links
Muon (g-2) Internal Communications (password needed)
