The Nuclear Astrophysics Graduate Student Conference is a joint meeting between graduate students from the Universities of Notre Dame, North Carolina, and Michigan State. The conference is intended to be an opportunity to improve interaction between nuclear astrophysics students and provide the possibility for information exchange and hopefully follow up communication. The conference is limited to post-candidacy graduate students although other students with significant research experience may apply. Professors are strictly prohibited as this conference is also intended as a venue free from the pressures associated with a typical conference.
Location & Accommodations:
The conference will be held in Chapel Hill, NC at the Morehead Planetarium near the UNC campus. Rooms are available at the Chapel Hill Holiday Inn.
Organizing Committee:
James deBoer (ND), Alfredo Estrade (MSU), Richard Longland (UNC)
Format:
This conference is designed with the idea of presenting useful information to graduate students who are working toward their PhD thesis. The conference will consist of some talks but much of the time will also be devoted to group sessions where the participants will have a chance to interact with others who share common questions regarding their research. As part of the application process we ask that you make up a short list of your areas of experience and areas of interest. Areas of experience simply mean research techniques, data analysis, theoretical background, etc. that you have some exposure to. This does not mean that you are an expert but that you could give some information and tips to another graduate student who is just learning. Areas of interest are simply topics which you would like get some information on. The groups in the group session portions will then include those with questions and those with some experience regarding a specific topic. Topics that we find are of interest to the majority of the attendees will be addressed in a short talk. Listed below are experience and interest topics we have recieved so far.
Areas of Experience
freeze-outs from NSE or QSE, related to but not restricted to Ti44 and Ni56
geant, summing detectors, some neutron detection
summing correction and efficiency calculation
Hauser-feschbach calculations, changing reaction rate libraries, Setting up a network calculation, theory of how reaction rates change in different regimes of temperature and density
R-matrix, experiments using a gamma-beam, calculating angular distributions, error analysis when using multiparameter fitting techniques
Implanted Target Production, Ion Sources, Acceleration
systems, CAD
PMTs, position sensitive NaI detectors, CAD
Material analysis, SEM, AFM (Microscopes), Monte Carlo
Thin Foil transmission, Scintillator detector building, the
Gamow peak, Matching Hauser-Feshbach reaction rates to experimental
Fitting, Geant4, AGB models, summing corrections
experimental angular distributions and optical model parameters, multipole decomposition to extract various strength distributions etc.
Si and CsI detectors, Neutron detection using liquid scintillator, multiple other detection systems. Electronic modification and repair. Noise cancellation techniques.
analytic fitting of reaction rates, mcnpx, silicon detectors
Areas of Intestest
coupling between convection and nucleosynthesis during hydrostatic burning in massive stars, related in particular with Al26 and Fe60
pretty much all indirect methods
How the DAQ (data acquisition system ) works, Something more about R-matrix, Other experimental methods
I've always wanted to know how people go from raw yield data to reaction rates! I know this sounds really silly to someone who is an experimentalist, but I've never seen how one models and subtracts background, and gets a reaction rate from the data. As such, I don't understand the errors in the measurement, or where they came from, or how that impacts me. How to use a parallel processor to calculate something.
summing corrections, deconvoluting target and beam effects from yield curves, error analysis when using multiparameter fitting techniques
Detection systems, sort routines, beam optic problems,
summing correction, fitting procedures
Triggering in electronics, NASTRO, fitting, summing corrections,
calibrating detectors
Experimental Techniques, 32S(p,g)
R-matrix, summing corrections, stellar modelling
making alpha beams, bayesian fitting techniques, summing corrections
with Monte Carlo, neutron detection
experimental angular distributions and optical model parameters, multipole decomposition to extract various strength distributions etc.
Neutron and Diamond (crystallized white dwarf) stars. Determining Nuclear EOS through different types of experimental observables.
neutron star ocean/crust, r-matrix business, many other things
Preliminary Schedule:
| Wednesday | |
| 09:00:00 AM | Lab Overview - UNC |
| 09:30:00 AM | |
| 10:00:00 AM | Coffee |
| 10:30:00 AM | Lab Overview - MSU |
| 11:00:00 AM | |
| 11:30:00 AM | Lab Overview - Notre Dame |
| 12:00:00 PM | |
| 12:30:00 PM | Lunch |
| 01:00:00 PM | |
| 01:30:00 PM | |
| 02:00:00 PM | Introducory Talks 1 - Experimental |
| 02:30:00 PM | |
| 03:00:00 PM | Group Discussions 1 |
| 03:30:00 PM | |
| 04:00:00 PM | |
| 04:30:00 PM | Present Findings 1 |
| 05:00:00 PM | Wrap Up |
| Thursday | |
| 09:00:00 AM | Introducory Talks 2 - Astrophysics |
| 09:30:00 AM | |
| 10:00:00 AM | Coffee |
| 10:30:00 AM | Group Discussions 2 |
| 11:00:00 AM | |
| 11:30:00 AM | |
| 12:00:00 PM | Present Findings 2 |
| 12:30:00 PM | Lunch |
| 01:00:00 PM | |
| 01:30:00 PM | |
| 02:00:00 PM | Introducory Talks 3 - Data Analysis |
| 02:30:00 PM | |
| 03:00:00 PM | Group Discussions 3 |
| 03:30:00 PM | |
| 04:00:00 PM | |
| 04:30:00 PM | Present Findings 3 |
| 05:00:00 PM | Wrap Up |
| Bars! |
Downloads:
Talks and other resources from the conference can be downloaded here.
