Research Interests

Gregory Keefer's research interests are in low energy experimental particle physics, specifically in detecting neutrinos and dark matter. He is currently working on Double Chooz, which is an international collaboration that aims to measure the final neutrino mixing angle, q13. He is head of the US reactor-modeling group, which will provide the fission rates from the reactor core, which are used to infer the fission products and their subsequent beta decays. This transition from fission products to antineutrino rates is also a research interest.

Keefer's is further interested in tying all of this research into practical use. This has become an exciting field of research in that we are beginning to develop small-scale antineutrino detectors to use toward the non-proliferation effort. The ultimate goal is to provide a completely independent measurement of the reactor's fuel content and to determine if fuel is being diverted from the core. He is currently working on several projects in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratory to deploy different types of detectors at reactors around the world.

His graduate work was dedicated to solar neutrino detection with KamLAND, and measuring low energy solar neutrinos is still a research interest. Precision measurements of the 7Be and CNO neutrinos would allow us to confirm and map out the MSW transition region. To this extent the duel phase Xenon and Argon detectors are a fascinating area of research as they could provide a means to detect both solar neutrinos and dark matter.

Membership

• American Physical Society

Ph.D., Physics, The University of Alabama, 2009

1. G. Keefer, Laboratory Studies of Lead Removal from Liquid Scintillator in Preparation for KamLAND's Low Background Phase, Submitted to AIP Conf. Proc., arXiv:1102.3786 (2011).
2. A. Gando et al. (KamLAND Collaboration), Constraints θ13 from A Three-Flavor Oscillation Analysis of Reactor Antineutrinos at KamLAND, Phys. Rev. D., 83:052002 (2010).
3. S. Abe et al. (KamLAND Collaboration), Study of the Production of Radioactive Isotopes through Cosmic Muon Spallation in KamLAND, hep-ex 0907.0666, Accepted by Phys. Rev. C. (2009).
4. B. Berger et al. (KamLAND Collaboration), The KamLAND Full-Volume Calibration System, JINST, Vol 4, P04017, April (2009).
5. S. Abe et al. (KamLAND Collaboration), Precision Measurement of Neutrino Oscillation Parameters with KamLAND, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100:221803 (2008).
6. D. S. Leonard et al., Systematic study of trace radioactive impurities in candidate construction materials for EXO-200, NIM A, 591 490-509 (2008).
7. T. Araki et al. (KamLAND Collaboration), Search for the Invisible Decay of Neutrons with KamLAND, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96:101802 (2006).
8. T. Araki et al. (KamLAND Collaboration), Experimental Investigation of Geologically Produced Antineutrinos with KamLAND, Nature 436:499-503 (2005).
9. T. Araki et al. (KamLAND Collaboration), Measurement of Neutrino Oscillation with KamLAND: Evidence of Spectral Distortion, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94:081801 (2005).

• Dissertation Award of Merit, University of Alabama, 2011
• Spot Award, LLNL, PLS, 2010
• Graduate Council Research Fellow, University of Alabama, 2008
• Research Grant, Research Center for Neutrino Science (RCNS), Tohoku University, Japan, 2006
• McNair Scholar, University of Alabama, 2002