Research Interests
Quark Interaction Physics generally concentrates on the middle ground between conventional nuclear physics and high energy particle physics, although the boundaries are not sharply defined. We are generally interested in problems in which the quark structure of hadrons (strongly interacting particles) is relevant. The energy range of interest doesn't usually lend itself to the simplifications of a perturbative treatment of quantum-chromodynamics. Rather, it allows us to explore a wealth of important topics, such as the structure of the hadrons themselves, which are intrinsically non-perturbative.
The Carnegie Mellon Quark Interaction group has participated in a rich variety of experiments over the past few years, using anti-protons to study annihilation on protons with the resulting creation of strange (and anti-strange) quarks; kaons and pions to study the weak decay of hypernuclei and to search for un-discovered states such as the H-dibaryon; and photons and electrons to probe strangeness production and the structure of the neutron. We have contributed to many aspects of these experiments: detectors, data-acquisition hardware, on-line acquisition programs and analysis. Carnegie Mellon graduate students have taken a leading role in the analysis and interpretation of the data from many of these experiments.