Max Camp | ‘Assembly of a Specialized Calorimeter in Genoa, Italy’

L to R: Dr. Marco Battaglieri, Dr. Raffaella DeVita, Dr. Erica Franchini (Post Doc), Giacomo Ottonello (technician), Ian Davenport (undergraduate, James Madison University), Max Camp – group with the Forward Tagger calorimeter

By Max Camp
(B.S. Physics, Class of 2016)

I spent June and July in Genoa, Italy, participating in a particle physics project under the direction of Dr. Kenneth Hicks, Professor of Physics & Astronomy at Ohio University and researchers at the Istituto Nazionalle Fisica Nucleare (INFN) based in Genoa, Italy.

Hicks is a member of a team of researchers conducting a nuclear particle tracking detector experiment at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) in Newport News, VA, called the CLAS Collaboration.  This collaboration also includes INFN researchers, who work together to build new experimental equipment called the Forward Tagger.

The Forward Tagger project involves designing hardware to detect electron scattering inside the CLAS12 spectrometer, a detector under construction for the JLab. Once the Forward Tagger is installed in the CLAS12 detector at JLab, it will be possible to investigate the kinds of particles that can be formed from quarks when high-energy electrons are scattered from protons and neutrons.  The team scientists estimate that experiments using the Forward Tagger will begin in the fall of 2017.

I was part of a team working on the Forward Tagger calorimeter for the upgrade of the CLAS12 detector. CLAS12 is a nearly spherical particle detector where researchers send a beam of electrons through and collect data on the particles that scatter close to that beam line. In June and half of July my time was spent assembling components of the Forward Tagger and testing it to make sure everything worked properly. Once we assembled this detector, I began to work on programs that would allow us to calibrate it for installation at JLab.

Max Camp at the Tower of Pisa

All of my previous research before this past summer was data analysis. It was eye opening to have the opportunity to work on the hardware of the detector. An incredible amount of detail goes into building just one small piece of the CLAS12 detector.

In addition to broadening my experience in particle physics, I had the chance to explore a bit of Italy. On the weekends I had available, I travelled to numerous destinations: Venice, Pisa, Florence, or the small towns of Cinque Terre. I also sampled the local cuisine like Genovese basil pesto, which is the freshest in the world. I met Italians as well as people from Austria, Belgium, and Britain. It was an experience I will never forget.