Juan Pablo Yanez Garza, PhD
Contact
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Science - Physics
- yaezgarz@ualberta.ca
- Phone
- (780) 492-1961
- Address
-
2-081 Centennial Ctr For Interdisciplinary SCS I
11355 - Saskatchewan DriveEdmonton ABT6G 2H5
Overview
About
- Assistant Professor of Physics University of Alberta (2018 - present)
- Banting Fellow - University of Alberta (2016 - 2018)
- Postdoctoral Fellow - DESY-Zeuthen (2014-2016)
- PhD Experimental Physics - Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (2014)
- BSc Engineering Physics - Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (2009)
Research
Neutrinos physics. Member of IceCube and SNO+. Special interest in neutrino oscillations, neutrinoless double beta decay and atmospheric neutrinos.
2020 - Graduate student positions in IceCube and SNO+ (see ad here)
- Particle physics with IceCube
IceCube is a cubic kilometer neutrino telescope, located at the South Pole, capable of observing neutrino interactions across a very large energy range. At the highest energies, IceCube has established the existence of an astrophysical neutrino flux and has observed first indications of its origin. Towards the low-energy side, the DeepCore subarray has now collected the largest sample of atmospheric neutrinos ever recorded, using them to study neutrino oscillations in appearance and disappearance modes, sterile neutrinos and non-standard interactions. A major detector upgrade is being planned that will greatly improve the performance and potential of the experiment across all energies. The UofA is actively involved in DeepCore and upgrade activities.
- Search for matter/antimatter equivalency with SNO+
SNO+ aims to establish the Majorana nature of the neutrino by searching for neutrinoless double beta decay using tellurium in liquid scintillator. SNO+ started taking data in 2017 with ultra-pure water, and now the inner volume is being filled with liquid scintillator. Data taken in the current period will be used to study solar, reactor and geo-neutrinos, and will be crucial in understanding the intrinsic background levels of the scintillator. The next phase will begin in 2019 as tellurium is loaded into the detector. The UofA is largely involved in the preparation towards this phase via calibration and development of analysis techniques.
2020 - Multiple undergraduate projects in:
- Particle identification and reconstruction techniques in IceCube
- Background suppression methods for SNO+
- Modeling of atmospheric neutrinos with external constraints
- Machine learning and multivariate analyses techniques in large scale detectors
For details or additional information on the research projects, send me an email.
Teaching
PHYS 271 - Modern Physics
PHYS 292 - Experimental Physics for Engineers
Announcements
2020
Multiple graduate student positions open in IceCube and SNO+.
Undergraduate term and summer projects also available.
Courses
PHYS 292B - Experimental Physics for Engineers
Experiments in mechanics, electromagnetism and atomic physics. Corequisites: PHYS 281 or 230, and MATH 209 or 214 or equivalent. Note: Restricted to Engineering students.
PHYS 372 - Quantum Mechanics A
Origins of quantum mechanics; wave functions; Schrodinger equation and its application to one dimensional systems, postulates and physical interpretation of quantum mechanics; orbital angular momentum, central potentials and three-dimensional systems. Prerequisites: PHYS 271, PHYS 230 or 281, MATH 225 or 227 (or 102), MATH 334 or 201.