Situated at the low-energy tail of the Giant Dipole Resonance (GDR), which is described as an out-of-phase oscillation between protons (Z) and neutrons (N), neutron-rich nuclei exhibit a small resonance like structure of additional electric dipole strength which has been denoted as the Pygmy Dipole Resonance (PDR). The PDR is interpreted, in a geometric picture, as an out-of-phase oscillation...
The Higgs boson is a fundamental particle in the Standard Model of particle physics, but its properties are not well-constrained experimentally. This analysis aims to improve our understanding of the Higgs boson through measurements of the H $\rightarrow$ WW decay channel in gluon-gluon fusion (ggF) and vector boson fusion (VBF) production modes. The ggF channel is the dominant production...
Understanding the phenomenon of shape evolution in atomic nuclei has been one of the main quests in nuclear physics. While throughout the nuclear chart the evolution of a spherical ground-state shape into a deformed one is usually a gradual process, in the Zr isotopic chain an abrupt shape transition is observed at N=60. This dramatic onset of deformation in $^{100}$Zr was recently well...
Nuclear data calculated by theoretical models play a large role in our understanding of the r-process due to the experimental difficulties in producing these very neutron-rich nuclei directly. In turn, experimental data are crucial in validating and constraining these models with the focus often on nuclear masses, half-lives and neutron emission probabilities. Nuclear structure also plays a...
Naturally occurring explosive astrophysical events including x-ray bursts, supernovae, and neutron-star mergers are responsible for the synthesis of the majority of heavy elements in the universe. Short-lived rare isotopes, produced in the initial blast, will decay back to stability through $\beta$-decay and other modes of radioactivity. The properties of these exotic nuclei can be...
High-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors are used in rare event searches such as neutrinoless double-beta decay, dark matter, and other beyond Standard Model physics. An efficient signal denoising algorithm can help advance these searches by improving energy resolution and background rejection techniques and allowing for the identification of low-energy signal events.
We present a machine...
Radon is a radioactive gas that arises from the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium minerals. It emerges from the ground and can enter homes, where it can decay and attach to dust particles, both of which can be inhaled. The alpha emissions from radon decay can cause DNA damage in lung tissue, increasing the risk of lung cancer [1,2]. Assessing radon exposure is important as it is the...
Nuclear structure properties of many isotopes in the neutron-rich region are still unknown. Detection systems that focus on this region are an important part of nuclear physics studies. At TRIUMF, the gamma-decay spectroscopy GRIFFIN facility, and its ancillary detectors, such as the neutron-tagging DESCANT detector, allows the study of many of these nuclei. From these studies, we can learn...
r-process nucleosynthesis is responsible for about half of the heavy elements observed in the universe, possibly happening in explosive environments like supernovas and neutron star mergers. The r-process outputs in the literature are not easy to replicate and vary across studies because of different nuclear mass models or initial conditions (seed nuclei); hence there is yet knowledge to be...
The scattering of neutrons was observed in a table top experiment with an AmBe source. It is a crucial step towards quenching factor measurement in gases with a neutron beam for the NEWS-G experiment. Before conducting the upcoming in-beam experiments, it is important to do a systematic investigation to study the effects of different gas mixtures, pressures, sphere sizes, and ionization...
Aerogel threshold Cherenkov detectors are supposed to be used, in combination with time of flight detectors, as part of the particle identification system of Water Cherenkov Test Experiment (WCTE). In this work, the characteristics and design of these aerogel threshold Cherenkov detectors are given, and with the aide of Monte Carlo simulations, the effects of several parameters on improvement...
