Date of Award

8-2022

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Physics

First Advisor

Zbigniew Chajecki, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Michael A. Famiano, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Elena Litvinova, Ph.D.

Fourth Advisor

Alfredo Estrade Vaz, Ph.D.

Keywords

Charged particles spectra, equation of state, heavy ion collision, particles identification, symmetry energy, veto wall

Abstract

The equation of state (EOS) is a fundamental property of nuclear matter, important for studying the structure of systems as diverse as the atomic nucleus and the neutron star. Nuclear reactions, especially heavy-ion collisions in the laboratories, can produce the nuclear matter similar to those contained in neutron stars. The density and the momentum dependence of the EOS of asymmetric nuclear matter, especially the symmetry energy term, is widely unconstrained. Finding appropriate constrains, especially at higher densities of the nuclear matter, requires the development of new devices, new experimental measurements as well as advances in theoretical understanding of nuclear collisions and neutron stars.

The main goal of the study’s experiment was to further constrain the density and the momentum dependence of the symmetry energy by looking at various observables like neutron to proton ratios, particle flow and the two-particle correlations in 58,64Ni+40,48Ca collisions at E/A=56 MeV/u and 140 MeV/u. That experiment was performed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. Measuring neutrons was an important goal of that experiment and it was done using the Large Area Neutron Array at NSCL. However, that detector by itself cannot identify neutrons from charged particles. Thus, our group at WMU constructed a charged particle detector that was placed in front of LANA that was used to veto the charged particles hitting LANA. My research involved building, testing, and commissioning of that charged particle detector, called WMU Veto Wall.

In this study I focus mostly on commissioning and calibrating of the WMU Veto Wall. I also demonstrate how our detector improves the neutron identification in LANA. Furthermore, I construct charged particles spectra from the Veto Wall and used them to construct pseudo-neutrons which are like real neutrons.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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