Relativistic Nuclear Physics with Professor Ralf Averbeck Research Projects for Undergraduate Students -------------------------------------------- Development of a Neural Network for Electron Identification in PHENIX --------------------------------------------------------------------- The PHENIX experiment studies high-energy nuclear collisions. In these collisions few electrons and many other particles are produced. One possibility to identify these electrons and separate them from the large background of other particle species is the use neural network properly designed and trained for this task. Goal of this (very ambitious) project is to develop such a neural network based approach and compare its performance to the current conventional electron identification algorithm. Electron/Pion Separation with the PHENIX RICH Detector ------------------------------------------------------ The current electron identification in the PHENIX experiment relies mainly on the fact that electrons generate Cherenkov light in the PHENIX Ring Imaging CHerenkov detectors while other particle species at the same time do not generate light as long as their momenta are below the respective Cherenkov thresholds. Even slightly above these thresholds the rejection of theses other particle species should be feasible since light production turns on only slowly. Goal of this project is to study the turn-on curve of the PHENIX RICH detector for pions in a simulation and to develop an algorithm based on that to extent the momentum range in which electron/pion separation can be performed reliably with the RICH. Electron/Hadron Separation with the PHENIX Calorimeters ------------------------------------------------------- Electrons and hadrons interact with matter in a completely different way. At high particle energies electrons develop an electromagnetic shower in material, while hadrons either lose only some of their energy or develop an hadronic shower in material. This difference in behavior can be exploited to separate electrons from hadrons in the PHENIX electromagnetic calorimeters which measure the energy deposited by particles impinging on them. Goal of this project is to study the different response of the PHENIX calorimeters to electrons and hadrons in a simulation and develop an algorithm based on that to separate electrons from other particle species. Detailed Parameterization of High-Energy Collisions at RHIC ----------------------------------------------------------- EXODUS is an event generator used for simulations in the PHENIX experiment. In order to be able to simulate high-energy collisions as they are produced at RHIC it is necessary to parametrize the available data from various experiments at RHIC and use these parameterizations as input for the EXODUS event generator. Goal of this project is to collect all available information on particle production at RHIC, parametrize these data, and implement them in the EXODUS event generator which then can simulate high- energy collisions at RHIC in a very realistic way. Calculation of Particle Trajectories through a magnetic field ------------------------------------------------------------- PHENIX measures the curvature of particle trajectories in a magnetic field to determine the particles' momenta. The EXODUS event generator currently used in PHENIX does not include the propagation of produced particles through the known magnetic field. Goal of this project is to implement an option in EXODUS to "swim" particles through the magnetic field and record their trajectories. +---------------------------------------------+ + Ralf Averbeck + + + + Department of Physics and Astronomy + + State University of New York at Stony Brook + + Stony Brook, New York 11794-3800 + + USA + + + + EMail: Ralf.Averbeck@.stonybrook.edu + + Phone: (631) 632-4907 + + Fax : (631) 632-8573 + +---------------------------------------------+ November 2003