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College of Liberal Arts
University of Mississippi

2017 Faculty Grants—Physics

Berti, E., primary investigator

CAREER: Physics and Astrophysics of Compact Binaries

Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Amount: $92,000.00

“Advanced LIGO, an interferometer to detect gravitational waves (GWs) from astrophysical sources, is currently the largest scientific endeavor supported by the National Science Foundation. The primary target for the first GW observations by Advanced LIGO is the merger of compact binary systems composed of two black holes, two neutron stars or one black hole and one neutron star. The observation of these systems will start a new field of research: GW astronomy.

This project addresses fundamental issues in the physics of compact binaries, such as testing the predictions of Einstein’s theory of gravity (general relativity) through GW observations. Another goal of the project is to “”put more astronomy in GW astronomy” by reaching out from the GW community to the larger astrophysics community, and by training students and postdocs in a highly interdisciplinary field that requires knowledge of general relativity, astrophysics and GW data analysis. The students and postdocs supported by this grant are part of a productive international network of researchers, involving theoretical astrophysics and relativity groups in Cambridge, Lisbon, Princeton and at the California Institute of Technology, where the PI holds a Visiting Associate faculty position.

The long-term goals of this proposal are: (1) to improve our theoretical understanding of compact binary mergers, and (2) to explore the science payoff that will follow the first GW observations: what can we learn about fundamental gravitational physics, and how will compact-binary detections contribute to our understanding of the Universe?

Last but not least, a primary mission of this CAREER award is to promote scientific education in Mississippi. The award is supporting a five-year long outreach program consisting of lectures, multimedia presentations, hands-on physics experiments, visits to the UM campus and to the LIGO facilities in Louisiana. The outreach program targets in particular Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Community Colleges in the Mississippi Delta, with the goal of increasing the recruitment of minorities in the physical sciences.”

Cavaglia, M., primary investigator

Mississippi’s Participation in LIGO’s Search for Gravitational Waves: Getting Ready for Advanced LIGO

Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Amount: $100,000.00

Cremaldi, L., primary investigator

US CMS FPIX SOW 2013

Sponsor: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory/U.S. Department of Energy
Award Amount: $20,000.00

QuarkNet Support 2012-2013

Sponsor: University of Notre Dame/National Science Foundation
Award Amount: $17,080.00

CMS Pixel Operations Support 2014

Sponsor: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory/U.S. Department of Energy
Award Amount: $20,000.00

Datta, A., primary investigator

Selected Topics in Quark Flavor, Neutrino and Higgs Physics

Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Amount: $15,000.00

Selected Topics in Quark Flavor, Neutrino and Higgs Physics

Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Award Amount: $15,000.00

Gladden, J., primary investigator

Elastic Constants of Selected Thermoelectric Materials at Elevated Temperatures

Sponsor: California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA
Award Amount: $11,472.00

Elastic Constants of Selected Thermoelectric Materials at Elevated Temperatures

Sponsor: California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA
Award Amount: $11,472.00

Quinn, G., primary investigator

Studies of the Standard Model and Beyond at the Energy and Intensity Frontiers

Sponsor: U.S. Department of Energy
Award Amount: $118,000.00

Support of W Mass Measurement at D0/Fermilab for James Krauss

Sponsor: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory/U.S. Department of Energy
Award Amount: $9,900.00

Intensity Frontier Fellowship on Muon g-2 and ORKA

Sponsor: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Award Amount: $26,400.00

Summers, D., primary investigator

Muon Accelerator Program R&D for a Neutrino Factory and Muon Collider

Sponsor: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory/U.S. Department of Energy
Award Amount: $68,353.05