Assistant Professor, EEP
Office: Knudsen 4-107b
Phone: 310-206-4548
Email:
Complete CV
Website
Researcher and Educator in Theoretical and Experimental physics passionate about Astroparticle Physics (Neutrino Physics and Dark Matter searches) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and outreach geared towards the younger generation and visible minorities in STEM. Strong background in Theoretical High Energy Physics and Experimental Astroparticle Physics with specialization in Bubble Detector Technology and Spherical Proportional Counters. Experienced in generating original ideas and inter-disciplinary research. Involved in intensive collaborations in writing articles in the field of Astroparticle Physics. Well versed in both Theoretical and Experimental approaches. Mentor for Women in Science and Engineering. Motivational speaker for girls in science. Full proficiency in both French and English. Self-motivated, hardworking and always looking for new challenges to apply acquired skills and learn new ones.
Astronomical and cosmological observations indicate that 85% of the universe’s mass is in an invisible and yet to be discovered form, so-called dark matter [1, 2]. Searching for this dark matter to identify its nature has become one of the most important research topics in physics today. Many experiments around the world using telescopes, colliders, and underground based detectors are invested in this research. They utilize complementary approaches and different detection technologies to search for dark matter mostly in the form of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs).
Underground based experiments aiming to directly detect dark matter particles via their potential recoil induced signals in the detector target materials are the the focus of my research.
My background lies in astroparticle physics, specifically in probing the nature of the missing matter of the universe so-called dark matter; and this, by utilizing various detection technologies such as bubble chambers, gaseous spherical proportional counters and noble liquid time projection chambers. Among the diverse technologies used in these experiments, I am mostly interested in the dual-phase noble liquid xenon time projection chamber (LXe-TPC) which has emerged in recent decades as the best technology to probe for heavy WIMP dark matter. I am also interested in exploring new technologies that could be used to probe low mass WIMP range which is beyond the reach of LXe-TPCs in order to ensure a full coverage of the WIMP dark matter mass and cross-section parameter space and enhance the probability of a discovery.
In addition to working on the LZ LXe-TPC experiment, my research group at UCLA will work on three different in-situ projects geared towards any current or future LXe-TPC experiments. First, I am building a mini TPC at UCLA that will be used to calibrate different electronic recoil responses in LXe- TPCs and test some of the crucial assumptions on which relies the discrimination of electromagnetic backgrounds (β,γ) from nuclear recoils (NRs) in these detectors [3–5]. Electronic recoil responses from these backgrounds, if not properly understood, could leak into the dark matter NR signal region of interest and be mis-identified to be a dark matter signal. As the dark matter field has entered an era where we might be drawing closer to a discovery by leading LXe-TPC experiments, every assumptions should be tested and validated to avoid false discovery claims.
The second project is to develop expertise in low background counting at UCLA to work on the screening of the different materials that will be used for the next generation of dark matter detectors (potentially a LXe-TPC from DARWIN/LZ consortium). Coupled to this low background counting project, I am also building a cleanroom within which I will investigate different techniques that could reduce the contamination of detector material surfaces by dust fallout and Radon daughter plate-out during the construction phase of this generation-3 detector.
The third project is to work on the fabrication of some radioactive sources that could be used for the calibration of future dark matter detectors. The mini TPC and the HPGe counter available in-stiu along with other radiation detectors I have purchased will be used to characterize these sources at different stages and optimize their fabrication techniques and processes.
As aforementioned, I am also interested in exploring new techniques to probe low mass WIMP dark matter. For this reason, I will continue working on the supercooled water detector technology, so-called SNOWBALL chamber, at UCLA. This technology is innovative and has the potential to be multidisciplinary but it is still at the infancy stage. The first goal will be to reproduce the results obtained by the prototype detector at the University of Albany, which showed that neutron induced NR interactions trigger phase transitions inside the chamber (crystallized the water) while ER interactions do not [6]. After the success of the first stage, the next stage will be to collaboratively work on optimizing the detector technique to make it usable as a particle detector and eventually as a dark matter detector.
All of these projects will provide training opportunities to students in hardware, data analysis and/or Monte Carlo simulations. Contact me if interested in joining my research group!
Bibliography and References Cited
[1] Clowe, Douglas, et al. “A direct empirical proof of the existence of dark matter.” The Astrophysical Journal Letters 648.2 (2006): L109.
[2] Ade, Peter AR, et al. (Planck Collaboration), “Planck 2013 results. XVI. Cosmological parameters”, Astronomy Astrophysics 571 (2014): A16.
[3] Akerib, Daniel S., et al. (LUX Collaboration), “First results from the LUX dark matter experiment at the Sanford Underground Research Facility”, Physical review letters 112.9 (2014): 091303.
[4] Tan, Andi, et al. (PandaX Collaboration), “Dark matter results from first 98.7 days of data from the PandaX-II experiment”, Physical review letters 117.12 (2016): 121303.
[5] Aprile, Elena, et al. (XENON Collaboration), “First dark matter search results from the XENON1T experiment”, Physical review letters 119.18 (2017): 181301.
[6] Szydagis, M., Levy, C., Huang, Y., Kamaha, A. C., Knight, C. C., Rischbieter, G. R., Wilson, P. W. (2021). “Demonstration of neutron radiation-induced nucleation of supercooled water”, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 23(24), 13440-13446.