SCGSR Award opens door to new research

In an article he wrote for the University of South Carolina physics newsletter, Clint Wiseman said, ?For the last three years I?ve been living under a rock with neutrinos on my mind.? The University of South Carolina (USC) graduate student was referring to his work on the Majorana Demonstrator Project, which is located on the 4850 Level of Sanford Lab. But all of that is about to change. 

Wiseman recently learned he had received a Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) award. In January, he heads to Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico to work on his Ph.D. project for six months. 

 ?My work with Majorana gave me confidence that I could get the award,? he said. ?Still, I was speechless. I was flabbergasted. I was elated.? 

Wiseman has been involved in almost every aspect of the Majorana experiment: construction, commissioning, operation, and data analysis. ?One of my colleagues told me that he?s done everything on Majorana incorrectly and correctly. That applies to me also,? Wiseman said. Still, he?s learned a great deal. 

?Clint is highly motivated and talented,? said Vince Guiseppe, an assistant professor of physics at USC and Wiseman?s advisor. ?With this SCGSR award, he has the added opportunity to expand upon his dissertation work and gain experience at a National Laboratory.?

To be considered for the SCGSR, graduate students must submit a proposal that is in line with their dissertation. Wiseman?s thesis focuses on cosmic ray and solar axion studies with Majorana. The project he proposed to DOE focuses on ways to improve shielding of germanium detectors. 

In the search for a rare form of radioactive decay, called neutrinoless double-beta decay, scientists use special shielding to eliminate background noise from cosmic rays. The Majorana experiment operates within a vacuum: the detectors are placed in a copper cryostat and surrounded by a six-layered shield. Conversely, the German experiment GERDA has an active shield: the detectors are submerged in liquid argon. 

?Both have advantages and disadvantages,? Wiseman said. So, he is proposing something that has never been done: operating a germanium detector in a gas environment. 

Could that remove problems with current shielding environments? Wiseman doesn?t know, but through his work at Los Alamos, he hopes to find out.