Department of Physics

Professor Palatchi's research focuses on precision measurements of parity-violation in electron scattering at Jefferson Lab, an electron accelerator in Newport News Virginia. These parity-violation measurements are a useful tool for studying the building blocks of nuclei and for testing the completeness of the Standard Model of electroweak interactions. Her scientific research program will use polarized electron beams at Jefferson Lab to conduct precision measurements in nuclear and particle physics. Her PhD and postdoc work in the PREX-2 and CREX collaborations measured the “neutron skin” of lead-208 and calcium-48, an essential piece of information needed to understand the compressibility of neutron stars. Caryn's research program at IUB will support the MOLLER experiment now in preparation at Jefferson Lab, which will conduct a precision measurement of parity violation in polarized electron scattering from electrons to search for physics beyond the Standard Model. She plans to establish an optics lab at MESH to further improve her patented Pockels cell device to generate and control electron polarization using polarized light-induced photoemission from gallium arsenide.