Peer-reviewed papers, proceedings and public technical work connected to my experimental physics, accelerator, ultracold-neutron and machine-learning projects.
What it asks: Can prompt Cherenkov light from sub-MeV electrons be identified event-by-event inside a high-light-yield liquid-argon detector? Method: Uses CCM200's coated and uncoated PMTs with a 22Na calibration source to isolate the prompt visible Cherenkov component from scintillation light. What makes it different: This is a detector-performance result from CCM200 and reports the first event-by-event observation of Cherenkov photons from sub-MeV electrons in a high-yield scintillator detector.
Open →What it asks: Could CCM detect axionlike particles (ALPs) produced in the LANSCE beam dump? Method: Uses CCM engineering-run backgrounds to project sensitivity to ALPs produced through photon- or electron-coupled processes and detected through gamma-ray-producing interactions or decays in liquid argon. What makes it different: Rather than looking for nuclear recoils from dark matter, this study repurposes CCM as a beam-dump detector for ALP signatures and projects the reach of the upgraded CCM200 detector.
Open →What it asks: Did the 2019 CCM120 engineering run contain a coherent-scattering signal consistent with light dark matter or sterile-neutrino-related physics? Method: Analyzes the first 10-ton liquid-argon engineering data taken near the Lujan source and compares the observed event population with expected backgrounds and signal models. What makes it different: This is the broader first-results paper: it documents detector operation, the engineering-run analysis and how those lessons drove the transition from CCM120 to the 200-PMT CCM200 detector.
Open →What it asks: Is there evidence for light dark matter that couples primarily to baryonic matter rather than leptons? Method: Searches the 2019 CCM120 data for coherent elastic scattering of accelerator-produced dark-matter candidates from argon nuclei, using the detector's light-based response, beam timing and background model. What makes it different: This paper focuses specifically on the leptophobic/baryonic-vector model and converts the null result into exclusion limits for previously unexplored light-dark-matter parameter space.
Open →Public-facing overview: Scientific American explains the motivation behind CCM, the stopped-pion neutrino source and the idea of searching for sterile neutrinos and connections to a possible dark sector. Unlike the research papers on this page, this is a magazine feature rather than an authored technical publication; it provides an accessible picture of the experiment and its scientific goals.
Open →What it asks: Can the full-scale Cavallo electrostatic multiplier generate hundreds of kilovolts without a conventional direct high-voltage feedthrough? Method: Repeatedly transfers charge with a mechanically translated electrode and measures the collector voltage with a calibrated rotary field mill during room-temperature SF6 operation. What makes it different: This is the full-scale performance demonstration, reaching approximately 255 kV from a 25 kV input.
Open →What it asks: Can the cryogenic nEDM concept achieve the very high electric fields needed for a substantially more sensitive neutron electric-dipole-moment measurement? Method: Develops and experimentally demonstrates high-voltage, electrode and supporting technologies for operation in superfluid helium while meeting heat-load and magnetic-noise constraints. What makes it different: This is an enabling-technology paper rather than a physics-result paper; its focus is making a future nEDM measurement at fields up to 75 kV/cm technically possible.
Open →What it asks: Can faster scintillator materials improve ultracold-neutron detection compared with conventional ZnS:Ag screens? Method: Fabricates and tests YAP:Ce and LYSO:Ce powdered scintillator screens, comparing decay time, phosphorescence, light response and measured UCN counts with ZnS:Ag. What makes it different: This is a detector-development study focused on improving UCN counting performance; YAP:Ce showed the strongest overall performance of the alternatives tested.
Open →What it asks: How could a shorter LANSCE proton pulse improve timing-based signal discrimination for CCM dark-sector searches? Method: Evaluates a Proton Storage Ring upgrade intended to compress the beam pulse from roughly 300 ns toward 30 ns while retaining most of the beam intensity. What makes it different: This work connects accelerator timing directly to detector sensitivity and background rejection for CCM.
Open →What it asks: How can material choices help control longitudinal beam instability in the LANSCE Proton Storage Ring as beam conditions become more demanding? Method: Studies alternative cavity-wall and inductive-insert materials in the context of impedance, beam stability and planned shorter, higher-instantaneous-power proton bunches. What makes it different: Unlike the detector papers, this is accelerator R&D focused on the machine that creates and conditions the proton beam.
Open →What it asks: Can unsupervised machine learning discover useful motion features directly from high-speed scientific imagery? Method: Applies a deconvolutional neural-network / locally competitive learning approach to synchronized two-camera videos of microparticles produced by exploding wires, learning features related to local velocity and time-dependent 3D motion. What makes it different: This work is computational rather than nuclear-detector hardware, using machine learning to extract physical structure from large imaging datasets without hand-labeling every feature.
Open →This page currently includes the publications and proceedings I have confirmed from public records. It can be expanded as additional records are identified.