All's quiet on the Kentucky front - except for that incessant beeping ....

As an experimental nuclear physicist, I must travel to laboratories with accelerators to perform experiments. Some people might not like this as they prefer to stay at home and sleep in their own bed and watch their kids play ball on the weekends.  I LOVE it. I have always loved to travel and that is one of the perks of being a physicist. Plus, I don't have much to worry about when I leave town, I have an understanding husband (which is a major help) and a Department who encourages my research.

This week I am at The University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory finishing up an experiment started a few weeks ago. Experiments are like flights - you want them to be as boring as possible. That means, everything is running smoothly. As soon as there is action, something has gone wrong and that is no good. If the machine is running well, the data is coming in and all the parts are in working order, experimental shifts are equivalent to watching paint dry. That is not the same as saying the experiment itself is boring, no way. The physics you are exploring, what you are looking for is very interesting, but you have to wait for the data to come in and then analyze it for months after the experiment has finished.

Experiments are never a solitary effort. Accelerators run 24 hours a day, every day as long as you have "beam on target". When the machine in on, someone has to be there to watch the machine, i.e. babysitting, to make sure nothing goes wrong. Preferable, you would like two people there for safety (what happens if one person falls and hits their head at 3 a.m.?) Not only do you have to watch the machine, but you have to watch that the data coming in and all of the electronics. The machine at UK is small and one person can be in charge of all of these things. Other places need someone in charge of just the machine (an operator) and someone in charge of the experiment.

This week, the we are looking into a problem discussed by Bohr and Mottleson in a 1975 work on nuclear structure. We bombard a target with neutrons and record the gamma rays which come out after inelastic neutron scattering. These gamma rays are detected with HPGe detectors like mentioned in GammaSphere. Unlike GammaSphere, we only use one in this experiment.  Van de Graaff accelerators have been around for a long time. The one at UK was installed around 1963 and underwent an upgrade in the 90s. What makes it special is the ability to produce a neutron beam which is done using a 3-He(p,n) reaction.

Why do I mention beeping? We monitor the accelerator by using a mechanical "popper" or beeper. This popper is hooked up to the beam current delivered by the machine and gives a sound to the current and therefore can be monitored. An ideal beam current is around 1.8 mA and if that is the case, "Tainted Love" can be sung to the popper. 

The control panel. Not much has changed since 1963.

I just like the sign.

My beautiful data coming in, it's beautiful.