Matthew Shepherd
Assistant Professor
Elementary Particle Physics (Experimental)
B.S., Indiana University 2000
M.S., Cornell University 2003
Ph.D., Cornell University 2005
Office: SW 265
Phone: 856-5808
Email: mashephe (@) indiana.edu
Our group has focused on studying the spectrum of light quark mesons using data that were collected with the E852 experiment at Brookhaven National Lab. We look forward to the opportunity to extend this study with data that will be collected with the CLEO detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. We are also actively involved in the design and construction of the GlueX experiment at Jefferson Lab.
It is through the study of the spectrum and properties of light quark hadrons we hope to understand the strong interactions within Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). QCD in the low-energy, non-perturbative regime is fascinating because it explains the confinement of quarks within hadrons. It also predicts the existence of exotic forms of matter such as hybrids, where the gluons binding the quarks in a meson carry additional degrees of freedom, and glueballs, matter composed entirely of gluons. The existence of hybrids or glueballs has yet to be unquestionably verified by experiment, and any experimental confirmation of these predicted forms of matter and subsequent measurement of their properties would provide validation of and valuable input to the quantitative understanding of QCD.
