Transcript Document

High Energy Physics Research: Prof. K. McDonald (I)
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For over 20 years Prof. McDonald’s research has focused on acceleration physics, and in particular on
the development of muon-based facilities such as a multi-TeV Muon Collider for electroweak physics,
and a Neutrino Factory for study of neutrino oscillations over long baselines.
M.M.~Alsharo'a et al., Status of Neutrino Factory and Muon Collider Research and Development and
Future Plans, Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 6, 081001 (2003).
S. Choubey et al., Interim Design Report, International Design Study for a Neutrino Factory (Mar.\ 19,
2011), http://www.ids-nf.org/wiki/FrontPage/Documentation?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=IDS-NF-020-v1.0.pdf
Prof. McDonald has been addressing the challenging issues related to production of intense muon
beams from a 4-MW proton beam.
H.G.Kirk et al., A Solenoid Capture System for a Muon Collider, PAC11 (Mar. 29, 2011),
http://puhep1.princeton.edu/~mcdonald/mumu/target/pac11/tup179.pdf
A key effort was the proof-of-principle demonstration of a free mercury jet target in a 15-T solenoid
magnet (CERN MERIT experiment).
High-Power Targets for Neutrino Beams and Muon Colliders, PAC09 (May 5, 2009),
http://www.hep.princeton.edu/~mcdonald/mumu/target/pac09/tu4gri03.pdf
Prof. McDonald’s future effort in this area will focus on conceptual design of the entire target system.
Another effort concerning high-power targets was the demonstration at SLAC of a method for
production of an intense beam of polarized positrons, as desirable for a TeV linear e+e- collider.
G. Alexander et al., Observation of Polarized Positrons from an Undulator-Based Source, Phys. Rev. Lett.
100, 210801 (2008).
High Energy Physics Research: Prof. K. McDonald (II)
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The physics opportunities at a Muon Collider and Neutrino Factory have led Prof. McDonald to become
involved in relevant detector R&D, and in neutrino oscillations experiments.
The McDonald group participates in the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment, a search for the socalled neutrino mixing angle 13, and has fabricated the gas system for its resistive plate chambers that
are part of the muon tagging (veto) system.
C. Lu and K.T. McDonald, Resistive Plate Chamber Gas System Final Design Review, (Apr. 11, 2008),
http://puhep1.princeton.edu/~mcdonald/dayabay/rpc_fdr_D.pdf
First data, with 2 of 8 eventual antineutrino detectors will commence in 2011, and postdoc Q. He is
heavily involved in analysis, calibration and simulation.
Prof McDonald is a proponent of a large (magnetized) liquid argon detector for neutrino interactions
from either a pion-based beam or from a Neutrino Factory.
D.B. Cline et al., LANNDD -- a massive liquid argon detector for proton decay, supernova and solar
neutrino studies and a neutrino factory, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A 503, 136 (2003).
This has led Prof. McDonald to (modest) participation in the BooNE experiment at Fermilab, still in its
design phase, as well as in the LBNE Collaboration.
Resistive-plate chambers are candidates for use in both the hadron calorimeter and the muon system of
detectors for future lepton collider, and the McDonald group is involved in R&D on this.
C. Lu et al., New Materials and Gases for Resistive Plate Chambers for Hcal and Muon Systems in a Lepton
Collider Detector, (Mar. 15, 2011),
http://puhep1.princeton.edu/~mcdonald/ILC/proposal/princeton_lcdrd_narrative_031311_v3.pdf