physics

Richard Gaitskell

Richard Gaitskell is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Richard Gaitskell rather than just read about it. In short: Richard Jeremy Gaitskell (born May 2, 1965) is a physicist and professor at Brown University and a leading scientist in the search for particle dark matter. He is co-founder, a principal investigator, and co-spokesperson of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment, which announced world-leading first results on October 30, 2013.

Key takeaways

Richard Gaitskell belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Richard Gaitskell to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Richard Gaitskell from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Richard Jeremy Gaitskell (born May 2, 1965) is a physicist and professor at Brown University and a leading scientist in the search for particle dark matter. He is co-founder, a principal investigator, and co-spokesperson of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment, which announced world-leading first results on October 30, 2013. He is also a leading investigator in the new LUX-Zeplin (LZ) dark matter experiment.

Career Gaitskell was educated at Dulwich College and received his BA and MA degrees from Oxford University in 1985. He was a scholar at St John's College and is the grandson of labour party leader Hugh Gaitskell. In 1985-1989 Gaitskell worked for the investment bank Morgan Grenfell in London, including a spell as an Assistant Director of Morgan Grenfell International. In 1993 he received his PhD degree from Oxford University. He was awarded a Prize Fellowship at Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1993 and a Center Fellowship at Center for Particle Astrophysics, UC Berkeley in 1995. He was visiting scholar at Stanford University in 1998–2000. He has been a professor at Brown University since 2001. Gaitskell's academic research focuses primarily on the direct detection of dark matter particles, and he has led several large-scale detection experiments. He was principal investigator on the XENON-10 experiment at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory, and a senior member of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search from 2000 to 2005. In 2007, Gaitskell co-founded the LUX experiment, which is currently operating 4,850 feet underground at the Sanford Underground Laboratory in Lead, South Dakota. More than 100 scientists and engineers across 18 institutions in the U.S. and Europe are involved in the LUX search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), the leading theoretical model for dark matter particles. On October 30, 2013, LUX scientists announced the results from the detector's initial 85-day run. While LUX made no detection consistent with dark matter particles, it demonstrated an unprecedented sensitivity reaching below one zeptobarn ( 10 − 45 c m 2 {\displaystyle 10^{-45}cm^{2}} ) WIMP-nucleon cross section for spin-independent couplings. The detector's sensitivity helps eliminate parameter space in which dark matter particles could exist. "There are basically thousands of models of particle physics lying bloodied in the gutter," Gaitskell told the audience at a Brown University colloquium following the results release. "They have been ruled out." Gaitskell is also a leading investigator in the new LZ (LUX-ZEPLIN) dark matter experiment which will be constructed in the same underground laboratory as LUX.

Awards and honors Hazard Professor of Physics, Brown University (2014) Fellow, American Physical Society (2010) "For his leadership and outstanding contributions to experimental searches for particle dark matter by direct detection using a variety of cryogenic techniques; especially for his work in extending the sensitivity reach by utilizing the noble liquid xenon two phase method." Department of Energy Outstanding Junior Investigator (2003) Center Fellowship, Center for Particle Astrophysics, UC Berkeley (1995-2000) Lindemann Fellowship, The Lindemann Trust Committee (1995) Fellowship by Examination, Magdalen College, Oxford (1993-1995) Post Doctoral Research Fellowship, Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (1993-1995) Scholar, St John's College, Oxford University (1982-1985)

Media Mentions and Appearances Gaitskell has appeared on Richard Hammond Builds a Planet on BBC One, and on Dara O'Briain's Science Club on BBC Two. His work with the LUX experiment has been profiled in Popular Science, the Los Angeles Times and Harper's Magazine. The LUX results were covered widely in the press, including in the New York Times, Science, The Guardian and The Economist.

References

External links http://www.luxdarkmatter.org http://www.sanfordlab.org https://gaitskell.brown.edu/

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard Gaitskell

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Richard Gaitskell claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Richard Gaitskell before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Richard Gaitskell ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Richard Gaitskell

In research: Richard Gaitskell appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Richard Gaitskell in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Richard Gaitskell is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1965 births, 21st-century American physicists, Brown University faculty, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard Gaitskell outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Richard Gaitskell in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Richard Gaitskell means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Richard Gaitskell out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard Gaitskell in simple terms?

Why does Richard Gaitskell matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Richard Gaitskell?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Richard Gaitskell.