Department of Physics News Kent State Undergraduate Contributes
to Particle Physics Research EffortPosted Dec. 6, 2012 Urbana—In
order to examine the workings of the smallest bits of matter,
particle physicists smash subatomic particles together at
tremendously high speeds and then analyze the resultant sprays
(called jets) of even smaller particles, following them through
their various decay paths. Huge quantities of data are taken
from thousands upon thousands of collisions, the data are
analyzed by powerful computers, and the ultimate findings
contribute to our understanding of how our world and everything
in it works on the most fundamental level. This summer Kent
State undergraduate Ben Stickel helped improve analysis software
that reconstructs events occurring within proton-antiproton
collisions, like those being studied at the Collider Detector at
Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois. Through the National Science
Foundation’s 10-week Research Experience for Undergraduates
(REU) program, Stickel had the opport