By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Big Blue Nation is getting a foothold in Japan for University of Kentucky Department of Physics and Astronomy students and others.  

Through an initiative led by Christopher Crawford, professor of physics in UK’s College of Arts and Sciences, the National Science Foundation has approved a grant of nearly $300,000 to arrange for three cohorts of six U.S. undergraduates and one U.S. graduate student to go Nagoya University in Japan for research and development. They will work in a program titled “Neutron Optics Parity and Time Reversal Experiment” (NOPTREX). 

“The goal of these experiments is to investigate the physical mechanism responsible for the conversion of antimatter into matter in the early universe,” Crawford said. “This is one of the outstanding questions in particle and nuclear physics and cosmology, because the Big Bang theory requires matter and antimatter to have been created in equal parts, although now, we do not observe significant quantities of antimatter in the visible universe.” 

UK will be sending students along with seven other institutions: Indiana University, Ohio University, Berea College, Centre College, Eastern Kentucky University, Western Kentucky University and Hendrix College. Faculty members will recruit participants from their respective institutions to work as a cohort.  

“An innovative aspect of this proposal is that participants will be recruited during the summer before the international experience and will receive extensive training with their advisor at their home institution before travelling to Japan,” Crawford said. “This personalized academic year-long training will prepare the students to make meaningful contributions in a highly technical field and give them extra time to study the Japanese language and culture.” 

The program will train a new generation of talented physicists skilled at working in international collaborations and conducting team-based science.  

“The small scale of the time reversal experiment and its use of techniques from many subfields of physics lends itself to hands-on student participation and the development of a broad understanding of physical principles and experimental techniques,” he said. 

The opportunity will target undergraduate students from the Appalachian region, Kentucky and surrounding states. Women, first-generation undergraduates and underrepresented minorities are encouraged to apply.  The application deadline is Nov. 15. 

“The scientific goal of the Neutron Optics Parity and Time Reversal Experiment collaboration is to conduct a new type of sensitive search for time-reversal symmetry violation in polarized neutron transmission through polarized nuclei,” Crawford said.” The discovery of a new source of time reversal violation in neutron-nucleus interactions would uncover new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics and help strengthen the connection between particle physics and cosmology.” 

For more information and to apply, visit the program website: https://pa.as.uky.edu/ires 

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Science Foundation under Award Number 2246335. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.