2020 USRA - Gamma-ray spectroscopy following beta-decay; Analysis of data from GRIFFIN

Job Information

Gamma-ray spectroscopy following beta-decay; Analysis of data from GRIFFIN

Proposed Start Date:   May 4, 2020

Job description (task/responsibilities, relevant scheduling details, and required and/or preferred qualifications)

The student will use the ROOT package of data analysis and locally developed sorting routines to produce the histograms and matrices that will be analysed.  Following this, they will use ROOT or other software to perform the analysis and develop the excitation level schemes of nuclei, measure decay half lives, deduce the probability of gamma-ray emission, etc. The candidate will be asked to join experiments at the TRIUMF-ISAC facility in Vancouver, and potentially other facilities, that our group are leading. 
The student should have a basic understanding of statistics, and knowledge of programming languages, for example C or C++, Python, etc., would be an asset. Previous gamma ray spectroscopy experience would be an asset.

Supervisor

Paul Garrett, Professor
Department of Physics

Outline of Proposed Research Project 

Nuclear beta-decay may populate excited states in the daughter nucleus, which can subsequently decay by gamma-ray emission.  In practice, we often observe a cascade of gamma-rays, allowing a level scheme of the nucleus to be established, and furthermore, we often see multiple possible gamma-rays emitted from a single excited state.  The knowledge of the levels and their decays provide sensitive tests of nuclear models and theories.  This project will focus on the analysis of data from the GRIFFIN gamma-ray spectrometer, obtained following beta-decay id radioactive beams from the TRIUMF-ISAC facility.