tbehrens's blog

Project GRAND (Gamma Ray Astrophysics at Notre Dame) is a field of over 100 meters squared that contains sixty four huts with CRDs (Cosmic Ray Detectors). These huts are constantly gathering information, which is then sent to computers in a trailer in the center of the field. (for an aerial view click here)

Christian and C.J. are the RHES interns at project GRAND this summer. Their jobs at project GRAND can vary from day-to-day, from analyzing data to cutting grass to confronting wasp’s nests in huts. They monitor and preform maintenance on the CRDs such as checking and fixing gas leaks in addition to monitoring the circuit boards.

Above: The REHS interns Christian (back) and C.J. (front) gather what they need to fix a gas leak that is affecting a quarter of the huts at project GRAND.

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Two of the REHS students are working on CRD Data Anaylsis this summer. This Chris and Dan. (Chris is in the front and Dan is in the back)

Chris and Dan are evaluating info that comes from cosmic ray detectors, which detect muons (tiny particles from space). Right now they’re testing the detectors to see how the data that comes from the two different detectors varies. By hooking up the detectors to a machine that simulates muons hitting the detectors (through energy pulses) the amount of energy that hits the detectors can be controlled. After running both the detectors at the same time for ten minutes, the data from the detectors is compared to each other. The difference from the two detectors compared with the actual energy pulses shows where in the inaccuracy is.

Eventually the hope is that many of these boards can be used simultaneously to detect muon showers, but in order for that to happen, the accuracy of the boards needs to be insured.

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