Richard T Jones

Professor

Physics

Research Interests
My primary research interest is in experiments that probe the spectrum and properties of strongly-interacting matter. Jefferson Lab provides beams of high-energy electrons that are uniquely suited for these types of experiments. My present research activities are focused on the GlueX experiment, which searches for a new class of particles known as “exotic” mesons, which are predicted to exist in the mass range 1.5 – 2.5 GeV by lattice-QCD calculations. As an educator, I am an enthusiastic advisor and promotor of undergraduate and high school team research.

QCD has shown great success in describing the interactions between quarks and gluons at short distance. However, the way that QCD unfolds in the spectrum and decays of physical states at the hadronic scale is yet to be fully explained. Significant advances have been made in numerical computation of QCD at hadronic scales over the past decade, spurred by developments in high-performance computing. In experiments at Jefferson Lab, we are working to test these theoretical predictions, and eventually to clarify the mechanisms underlying the confinement of color in hadrons.

Other areas of interest include generation of polarized high-energy photon beams by coherent bremsstrahlung, polarized photon beam controls and monitoring, machining and assessment of diamond radiators, development of particle detectors, and high-throughput computing for particle physics experiments with clouds, grids, and advanced HPC architectures.

CV

Education

• Ph.D., Physics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 1988
• B.Sc., Physics, Bob Jones University, Greenville, SC, 1981

Experience

• 2018-present: Professor, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut
• 2003-2018: Associate Professor, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut
• 1996-2003: Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut
• 1990-1996: Research Associate, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
• 1988-1990: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Illinois, Urbana IL

Professional Societies

• American Physical Society