Milo Vermeulen, PhD at Nikhef, will defend his thesis Tuesday 9 November 2021 at 15.00 at the University of Amsterdam.
“A Blessing in Disguise — Characterisations of ProtoDUNE photon showers for neutrino measurements in DUNE”
There are few areas of particle physics as open to new discoveries as the neutrino sector. Although neutrinos are among the most abundant in the universe, their weak coupling to ordinary matter makes them a challenge to study. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an upcoming precision experiment in neutrino physics planned to be built between Illinois and South Dakota in the US. The most powerful neutrino beam in the world will be aimed at the largest liquid argon time projection chamber in the world through 1300 km of solid rock. In order to prototype this detector, a scale model was constructed and operated at CERN in 2018 called ProtoDUNE.
This thesis presents three studies performed on ProtoDUNE. The first concerns the readout of detector data by the FELIX data acquisition system, as well as compression studies performed on the same data. The second study concerns the identification of photons created in neutral pion decay, which form a major background to neutrino-produced electrons. The distinction between electrons and photons is based on the differing energy deposition in the initial part of the particle showers they produce. The third study concerns the energy reconstruction of these particle showers in the detector. They have a known energy profile and can thus be used to calibrate the energy reconstruction of particle showers in general, a vital requirement for DUNE’s physics goals.
“A Blessing in Disguise — Characterisations of ProtoDUNE photon showers for neutrino measurements in DUNE” (pdf)
The PhD defense will take place Tuesday 9 November, at 15.00 in the Agnietenkapel, Oudezijds Voorburgwal 229 – 231, Amsterdam.
De promotie will be broadcasted online.
More information on the website of the UvA.
Supervisor: prof. dr. S.C.M. Bentvelsen
Co-supervisor: dr. F. Filthaut
contact: Milo Vermeulen