Summer 2006 Research

Welcome to the MARIACHI summer 2006 page! An excellent group of people will be carrying out experiments to calibrate and test the MARIACHI instrumentation for the detection of cosmic rays. Students will be experiencing research for the first time.

This summer we have a setup at the BNL Physics Department Highbay. It is a place that resembles a warehouse but we will call it home for the summer. We are sharing the space with two other groups - PHENIX and the e-Bubble experiment. The MARIACHI setup has 5 scintillators and a Radar. The goal of those working with the Radar is to develop a data collection system for the Radar, collect and analyze data, and have some fun. We will be developing lessons for classrooms in particle physics and all that connects to MARIACHI in classroom.

1. Zina Sanchez - Stony Brook University (Batelle)
2. Deb Klein - Stony Brook University (Batelle)
3. Candice Humpherys - Brigham Young University - Idaho (PST)
4. Ray H. O'Neal, Jr., Ph.D. - Florida A&M (FAST)
5. Alishia Ferrell - Florida A&M (FAST)
6. Jeremy Martin - Florida A&M (FAST)
7. Allen Sharper - Florida A&M (FAST)
8. Andrew Lingenfelter - (REU)
9. Ben Moeller - (REU)
10. Nathan Emerson - Stony Brook University
11. Josh Seidman - Stony Brook University
12. Richard Gearns - Sachem HS East (QuarkNet)
13. Jeff Spahn - Rocky Point HS (LSTPD)
14. Joe Sundermier - Deer Park HS (LSTPD)
15. Michael Marx, Ph.D. - Stony Brook University
16. Dan Grove - Smithtown HS, (QuarkNet)
17. Oscar Marcelino - Brentwood HS, (QuarkNet)
18. Alicia DiStefano - Rocky Point HS, (QuarkNet)
19. Carlos Gamboa - Stony Brook University
20. Helio Takai - Brookhaven National Laboratory

QuarkNet 2006 - QuarkNet workshop, 2006 edition (past)
What is a Wiki?
What are Cosmic Rays?

The MARIACHI scintillators are encased in gun cases as illustrated in this picture. The gun cases provide a good light shield for the scintillators and it is proved to be an easy and quick way to assemble these detectors. These detectors are being deployed to be part of the MARIACHI Ground Array. They are installed in the classroom.

One of the problems we have with classrooms is that they all have different sizes and shapes! Therefore they have different detection rate, or different energy thresholds for the detection of cosmic rays. In the High Bay we will perform an experiment to measure the rates for 3-4-5 fold coincidences for different geometries. Then performing simulations we will establish their sensitivity to different primary cosmic rays.

The main cast of characters working on this project are: Nathan, Zina and Deb.

The Radar setup at BNL will be used to develop a data acquisition and collect data for data analysis.

The antenna we will be using is a high gain log dipole antenna that operates between 50 to 500 MHz. The antenna is mounted on an umbrella stand and held by three cinder blocks. The antenna is connected to a Winradio 313i receiver that is inside the building. This receiver is a very low noise receiver. So far we could only run in windows.

We have acquired some data recently with the setup and seems to be detecting meteors, airplanes and lightning very well. Two similar setups will be installed at Suffolk County Community College and Stony Brook.