Nuclear Physics with STAR and ePIC
Faculty Sponsor
Professor Gibson-Even
College
College of Arts & Sciences (CAS)
Department/Program
Physics and Astronomy
ORCID Identifier(s)
0009-0007-8445-2520
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Symposium Date
Summer 7-23-2025
Abstract
We worked on two different international experiments, STAR and ePIC, and carried out research on different particle physics projects with the collider at Brookhaven National Lab. The proton has a spin of 1/2 ħ which is only partially explained by our current knowledge of the proton's structure. A goal of the STAR, and soon ePIC, is to determine how much the gluons contribute to the spin of a proton. The students who focused on the STAR aspect of research worked on finding the relative luminosities and the number of pi0s which is measured by finding the photon pairs measured by STAR which resembles the mass of a pi0. We also calculated relative luminosities for polarized proton-proton collisions in the STAR experiment by evaluating scaler data across selected fills and identifying inconsistencies in spin patterns and bunch crossings. Another student worked with ePIC to assist with research and development for the Electron-Ion Collider and the ePIC detector. We aided in this work by searching for the cause of a discrepancy in test beam data for a prototype of the LFHCal subdetector. We will present our findings from our work with STAR and ePIC detectors.
Recommended Citation
Proskurniak, Abby; Shafer, Leah; and Montemayor, Zeke, "Nuclear Physics with STAR and ePIC" (2025). Summer Interdisciplinary Research Symposium. 246.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/sires/246
