John Cummings, Ph.D., Interim Dean of the School of Science and associate professor of physics, is trying to understand why we haven’t all been vaporized into energy.
Cummings is part of an international team, jointly led by scientists in the U.S. and China, working on the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment, and the team’s research was honored with a share of the $3 million Breakthrough Prize. The Breakthrough Prize was created by Sergey Brin of Google, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, and others to recognize significant “breakthrough” achievements in Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics.
The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment involves an international team of scientists studying neutrinos — ghostlike particles that can change their type as they move through the air, seemingly disappearing and reappearing as they travel. As you read this, more than 65 billion neutrinos just passed through your thumbnail and continued on straight through the earth.
Studying the oscillation, or wave-like movement, of neutrinos is possible when they are trapped in large underground pools of water near six China General Nuclear Power Group reactors in Daya Bay, China. Understanding the behavior of neutrinos could hold the key to understanding the correlation between matter and anti-matter, and how it is that the two opposing forces are able to co-exist today.
“This research is critical to understanding a fundamental component of our universe,” said Cummings. “The work is incredibly exciting and satisfying in its own right. To be part of the team that is honored with this award is amazing.”
Cummings has worked on the project for 10 years, and includes his students in the research work. The Siena work has focused on what is called the “muon veto shield” in the water pool, and a complex monitoring system to ensure the purity of the water in the pool. Cummings and his students will also contribute through data analysis as the project moves forward.
“Working alongside some of the best minds in the world as a researcher is exhilarating,” Cummings said. “And as a teacher, being able to provide this opportunity to Siena students is just as exciting.”
