Teresa Brecht , IT 2008
Electron Neutrino Identification in the Nova Detector
Major
Physics/Mathematics
Mentor
Daniel Cronin-Hennessy
Brief Bio
I am from Hutchinson, Minnesota and am currently a sophomore student. When not studying, I enjoy juggling, reading and cooking.
Future Plans
My future plans are far from being certain, but I imagine myself going to graduate school and exploring experimental physics in some as-yet undetermined field.
Why Research?
I thought it would be a good experience to figure out what I am going to do after college.
What Did I Get from Research?
I had a great experience learning how to communicate with others in a collaborative research environment. Of course I ended up learning a lot from research that I wouldn't learn in my classes until several years later in my academic career.
How Did I Start?
My physics professor recommended it to the class.
My Advice for Another Student:
Go for it. It’s a good experience and you get to take charge of your own ideas.
Research Summary
I mostly did computer programming to identify signatures that will be collected in the neutrino detector for the Nova project that will be built near Tower, Minnesota. Neutrinos are mysterious elementary particles that appear to oscillate between three different types. The goal of the Nova project is to observe the oscillation of muon neutrinos to electron neutrinos. The detector will collect neutrinos sent through the earth from Fermilab in Illinois. For my UROP project, I worked on analysis and development of software algorithms that will classify signatures collected in a detector as electron neutrinos or other neutrinos.