Kate ( Oak Park and River Forest H.S.)
Mentor: Jong-Hee Yoo
This summer I simulated several different neutrino beams in order to help design a future neutrino beam at FermiLab. I spent a lot of time researching neutrinos; specifically their creation, oscillations, history, and physical characteristics. One of the most important things I learned is that there is much we don't know yet about neutrinos. I used a variety of software, including G4Beamline to model these simulations, test them, collect data, and analyze it. I learned how every detail in the simulations can alter the results. The hardest part for me was probably analyzing the data because I had to fully understand the entire neutrino beam process before I could draw any sort of conclusion of my results. In the next 5-10 years, the neutrino beam I simulated on a computer will possibly be built at FermiLab. I am very fortunate to have been able to work on this project in it's infancy and I hope to continue to work on it in the future.