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Alexander Austregesilo, a staff scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, has been awarded a research grant by the DOE Office of Science’s Early Career Research Program. He is one of 83 early career scientists awarded nationwide for the grant, which averages $2.5 million over five years.

Two graduate students at Virginia universities who plan to conduct research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility have just received grants toward their projects. They are among 80 graduate students representing 27 states selected to receive support through the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program’s 2021 Solicitation 2 cycle.

Scientists are holding up a ‘mirror’ to protons and neutrons to learn more about the particles that build our visible universe. The MARATHON experiment, carried out at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, has accessed new details about these particles’ structures by comparing the so-called mirror nuclei, helium-3 and triton. The results were published today in Physical Review Letters.

Particle accelerators are among the hidden drivers of our modern world. From medical diagnostics and treatments to computer chip manufacturing and oil exploration to discovery sciences, the world’s more than 30,000 particle accelerators underlie many of our modern conveniences. Now, more students will soon have easier access to the unique job opportunities offered by these remarkable machines. The new Virginia Innovative Traineeships in Accelerators (VITA) is now accepting students. VITA is a partnership among four higher education and research institutions located in Hampton Roads, Va., including Old Dominion University, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Hampton University and Norfolk State University.

Latifa Elouadrhiri has been presented with the 2021 Jesse W. Beams Research Award, which recognizes especially significant or meritorious research in physics that has earned the critical acclaim of peers from around the world. The award was established by the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society (SESAPS) in 1973. Elouadrhiri is only the second woman to receive it.

A newly invented detector is allowing physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility to “see” neutrons like never before. Fresh insight from these devices has improved operation of the lab’s powerful electron accelerator, which is used in nuclear physics studies of the atom’s nucleus.

Neutrinos may be the key to finally solving a mystery of the origins of our matter-dominated universe, and preparations for two major, billion-dollar experiments are underway to reveal the particles’ secrets. Now, a team of nuclear physicists have turned to the humble electron to provide insight for how these experiments can better prepare to capture critical information. GENIE is simulation framework made of many models that each help physicists reproduce certain aspects of interactions between neutrinos and nuclei to help understand their experimental results. Since so little is known about neutrinos, it’s difficult to directly test GENIE to ensure it will produce both accurate and high-precision results from the new data that will be provided by future neutrino experiments. In this study, the team used an electron-scattering version of GENIE, dubbed e-GENIE, to test the same incoming energy reconstruction algorithms that neutrino researchers will use. Instead of using neutrinos, they used recent electron results. Their research reveals that major updates to neutrino models are needed for the experiments to achieve high-precision results.

Jefferson Lab has appointed David J. Dean as its Deputy Director for Science. This key leadership position oversees the science and technology aspects of the laboratory’s mission. Dean will take on the responsibilities of this role in January 2022.