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| Name |
Aprile, Elena |
| Location
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Columbia University |
| Primary Field
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Physics |
 Election Citation
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Elena Aprile studies the fundamental properties of liquid xenon and liquid argon for radiation spectroscopy and imaging in particle physics and astrophysics.
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Research Interests
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Elena Aprile Noble Liquid Detectors Laboratory at Columbia University studies the fundamental properties of liquid xenon and liquid argon for radiation spectroscopy and imaging in particle physics and astrophysics. Early studies focused on the response of these noble liquids to McV radiation with a focus on measurements of the ionization yield and the factors limiting the energy resolution. Subsequent studies involved the simultaneous measurement of both the ionization and the scintillation yields, with kcV to McV radiation. Aprile's interest in imaging McV gamma-rays from astrophysical sources, led her to propose and develop the Liquid Xenon Gamma-Ray Imaging telescope (LXeGRIT), the first Compton telescope based on a liquid xenon time projection chamber, which was tested in two long-duration balloon flights in 1999 and 2000.
Since 2001, Aprile's research interest turned to dark matter direct detection with experiments using liquid xenon. She is the founder and spokesperson of the XENON Dark Matter project, which aims to discover dark matter particles as they scatter off xenon atoms in massive yet ultra-low background liquid xenon time projection chambers, operated deep underground. The XENON experiments, with kilogram to tonne-scale detectors, have improved the sensitivity to dark matter interactions by five orders of magnitude in the last fifteen years, producing world-leading results at each step.
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