In the summer of 2007 two undergraduate students, Juliette Alimena (UPenn) and Marc Miskin (RPI), joined the XENON collaboration for 10 weeks of intesive research on a variety of topics. Juliette and Marc were part of the Summer Research Program for Undergraduates at the Nevis Labs. Both can be seen in the adjacent picture working with liquid nitrogen while testing new APDs for the XENON10 detector.

Juliette worked on two projects this summer. The first was to refine a Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation that has been used to characterize the light response of the XENON10 detector. This was done by varying the parameters that influence the light collection efficiency and comparing each variation to activated xenon data. The activated xenon S1 pulse reaching each PMT in the bottom array was compared to those of 12 different versions of the simulation by finding the chi-squared, and the version of the simulation that gave the lowest chi-squared value was found. Her second project was to begin tests of avalanche photodiodes in liquid and gaseous xenon, with the ultimate goal of being able to characterize their gain as a function of bias voltage and quantum efficiency.

At the respective links, one may find Juliette's presentation and paper on her summer research.

Marc also approached the Xenon project with a diverse scope of interests. He first developed a Neural Network to reconize multiple compton scattering events, which might otherwise produce background in the dark matter search. Next, he spent some time on adjusting the mechanical aspects of the detector by helping construct a new chasse to hold the detector in place for a neutron experiment. Finally, he worked with Juliette on testing APDs in gaseous and liquid Xenon in an effort to discover better tools for converting scintillation light into electrical charge.

At the respective links one may find Marc's presentation and paper on his Neural Network.