The SNO+ detector is located 2km underground in Sudbury, Ontario. The primary purpose of the experiment is to study extremely rare neutrinoless double beta decay using Te-130 as the double beta decay isotope. Te-130 was chosen due to it’s high natural abundance and high energy double beta decay end point. The detector will be initially loaded with 0.5% Tellurium which corresponds to 4 tons of...
The ALPHA-g experiment at CERN aims to perform the first-ever direct measurement of the effect of gravity on antimatter, determining its weight to within 1% precision. At TRIUMF, we are working on a new deep learning method based on the PointNet architecture to predict the height at which the antihydrogen atoms annihilate in the detector. This approach aims to improve upon the accuracy,...
The necessity to account for backgrounds is a well known issue for any feasible Dark Matter detection experiment. One of the major sources of backgrounds is the emission of alpha particles associated with the decay of small amounts of radioactive isotopes present in the experiment.
Due to the quantum nature of radioactive decay, it is impossible to develop a deterministic model for the...
Studies of short-lived radioactive isotopes, at the limits of nuclear binding (the ``drip lines"), are crucial for understanding how the nuclear force evolves toward the extremes. In neutron-deficient nuclei, measurements of $\beta$-delayed proton emission, can be used to constrain proton-capture reaction pathways in nucleosynthesis and test isospin symmetry. In this talk, I will present my...
The nEXO experiment aims to search for neutrinoless double beta decay in liquid 136Xe. It uses an inner detector, consisting of a time projection chamber, contained within an outer detector. The outer detector, filled with D2O and lined with photomultiplier tubes, shields the experiment passively by stopping cosmic backgrounds in the heavy water and actively by detecting the Cherenkov...
In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to find detector operators
among members of the SNO+ collaboration due to the time consuming and
monotonous nature of this necessary work. Hence, we aim to replace the bulk
of day-to-day detector operation with a new tool named ’Roboshifter’. There
are many interesting challenges when transitioning a large and long-standing
experiment...
Dark matter (DM) comprises of nearly 80% of the mass of the universe, yet its exact nature eludes us. Specifically, the Dark Photon (DP) is a well-motivated candidate for DM, and offers a relatively simple extension to Standard Model (SM) physics. Dark photons act as a portal between SM and DM particles via kinetic mixing, thus oscillating into photons (and vice-versa) while propagating. For...
This is a new assay technique that is being developed and characterized for future use on scintillator within the SNO+ experiment.
The SuperCDMS experiment is a direct detection dark matter (DM) experiment currently located at the SNOLAB underground facility in Sudbury, Ontario. Employing cryogenically cooled silicon and germanium crystals held just above absolute zero, the experiment detects DM particles via nuclear and electron recoils. The High Voltage (HV) detectors boast a low energy threshold granting high...
The discovery of a non-zero permanent neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) could be direct evidence of new physics beyond the Standard Model, due to its CP violating nature. To measure the nEDM, stable magnetic fields are required. The TRIUMF Ultra Cold Advanced Neutron (TUCAN) collaboration is using a 5-layer Magnetically Shielded Room (MSR) to achieve the required level of magnetic field...
