Physics Professor Assists in Experiment to Map the Structure of Helium
Michael Wood, PhD, professor of physics and faculty member in the Department of Quantitative Sciences, recently participated in the latest experiment in Hall B at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab). The experiment is a 3D map of the interior of the Helium-4 nucleus.
All atomic nuclei are made of protons and neutrons. The protons and neutrons consists of more fundamental particles called quarks.
One goal of the experiment is to understand how the Helium nucleus emerges from a collection of kinetic quarks. The measurement uses an electron beam traveling at 99.9% the speed of light that scatters off of a Helium target. Particles created in the reaction are collected in the CLAS12 detector (https://www.jlab.org/physics/hall-b/clas12) and the new ALERT tracking system (https://www.anl.gov/phy/quantum-chromodynamics-in-nuclei). The ALERT detects the low-energy recoiling particles in order to measure a complete reaction. JLab is a Department of Energy national lab located in Newport News, VA (https://www.jlab.org/). Its mission is to study the building blocks of matter and probe the particles and forces that make up the atomic nucleus. A typical Hall B experiment collects data 24-7 for two-to-three months and requires the help of the more than 200 national and international collaboration members
Submitted by: Michael Wood, PhD, professor, physics
