Career: P2 Beam Control and Measurement

The P2 experiment at the Mainz MESA accelerator in Germany is an extremely precise parity violating electron scattering (PVES) experiment searching for new physics beyond the Standard Model using electron-proton scattering. The research program supported by this award is essential to achieving the high precision beam polarization measurements and parity quality beam for P2 to meet its stringent systematic uncertainty goals.

The program includes designing a detector package for a novel atomic hydrogen polarimeter never before used in a parity experiment and would mark a significant technical development in the field of high precision beam polarization measurements. Additionally, the PI is committed to supporting the education of future scientists and creating and sustaining a positive, inclusive, safe, and professional research and training environment.

This research program will train graduate students and postdocs to become world experts in polarized beam control.

The main thrust of this research program is electron beam control and measurement for the upcoming P2 experiment, a high-impact experiment which will play a vital role in the MESA program. These research efforts will be geared towards two complimentary goals: (1) ensuring the achievement of parity quality beam for P2 to meet the stringent systematic uncertainty goals arising from beam asymmetries and (2) designing a detector package for a novel atomic hydrogen polarimeter never before used in a parity experiment for measuring the beam polarization to high precision.

This effort will involve beam studies at MESA, polarized source development, designing a detector package for the planned Hydro-Moller polarimeter, participation in pre-P2 pilot experiments, and management of beam asymmetries during P2. The polarized source development will involve building a Pockels cell specific to the MESA source needs and testing them with beam studies in the MESA injector.

Participation in the installation and implementation of this new cell for pilot experiments at MESA will be critical to the preparations for P2, training students and testing these new technologies.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.