معرفی
D.S. Armstrong is the Chancellor Professor of Physics at the College of William & Mary, where he leads a research group focused on experimental nuclear and particle physics. He conducts major experiments at Jefferson Lab, including Qweak, PREx, CREx, and the upcoming MOLLER experiment, all aimed at precision tests of the Standard Model through parity-violating electron scattering.
- Chancellor Professor of Physics, College of William & Mary
- Primary research site: Jefferson Lab, Newport News, VA
- Research group leads in precision weak interaction measurements and hadronic structure
Education
- B.Sc., McGill University, 1981
- M.Sc., Queen's University, 1984
- Ph.D., University of British Columbia, 1988
Armstrong's research centers on experimental nuclear and particle physics, particularly precision measurements of the proton's weak charge and the neutron skin in nuclei. His group uses polarized electron beams to probe parity-violating asymmetries in electron-nucleus scattering, providing stringent tests of the Standard Model and insights into quark contributions to nucleon structure. His work on the G0 experiment explored strange quark effects, while Qweak delivered the first direct measurement of the proton’s weak charge, published in Nature (2018). Current efforts focus on the MOLLER experiment, which will achieve even higher precision in weak mixing angle measurements.
The recent publications reflect a strong trend toward precision electroweak physics, with increasing focus on detector calibration, tracking efficiency, and background suppression in next-generation experiments like MOLLER. The subfields span parity violation, hadronic structure, strange quark contributions, and advanced simulation techniques using GEANT4.
Scientific Awards:
- Monica Potkay Advisor of the Year, 2022
Armstrong has advised over 30 PhD and senior thesis students, many of whom have pursued academic and research careers at institutions like MIT, Stanford, Jefferson Lab, and NASA. His research is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Energy (DOE), including recent funding for the MOLLER experiment from NSF and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI). He also contributes to broader scientific service, including faculty governance and development of open-source educational resources like the Virginia Physics Flexbook.
His team collaborates extensively with national laboratories, particularly Jefferson Lab, and includes active graduate students such as Ezekiel Wertz, Kate Evans, and Tasneem Raza. The group emphasizes both experimental hardware development and advanced data analysis, including machine learning applications for particle identification and track reconstruction.
