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The Heavy Photon Search Group at SLAC is collaborating with physicists at Jefferson Lab (http://www.jlab.org/^{Image Removed})and their collaborators, Fermilab, and UCSC , and U Oregon in two experiments aimed at discovering a hidden sector, or heavy, photon. Such a particle would have mass in the range 0.1 to 1.0 GeV, couple weakly to electrons, and decay to e+e-. It would be produced by electron bremstrahlung on a heavy target, and be identified as a narrow e+e- resonance. Its weak couplings to electrons account for its not yet being discovered, and can give rise to separated vertices in its decay, providing a spectacular signature.

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The first experiment is the APEX experiment, which has been conditionally approved at Jlab, and which is scheduled for has already completed a test run in June, 2010this past summer. The experiment makes use of two large spectrometers in Jlab's experimental Hall B A to search for the heavy photon. If successful, several more data taking runs will We expect a data taking run to be scheduled in 2010-2011 or 2012. The experiment provides many opportunities for rotation students, and could provide data for a very topical particle physics thesis. SLAC has responsibilities for constructing and testing the target for the experiment, and work on the target could commence immediately. Developing the physics analysis of the experimental data is another possibilitytaking shifts, and helping to develop the data analysis.

The second experiment is the Heavy Photon Search Experiment experiment (HPSE), which is in the design and proposal stageHPS). Our SLAC group, in collaboration with other institutions, is currently designing the experiment, and will be submitting a proposal to Jlab by May, 2010others, has just proposed this experiment to Jefferson Laboratory and hopes for approval this fall. The experiment will use LHC style readout of silicon microstrip detectors and a PbWO4 crystal calorimeter to deal with the extremely high trigger rates expected. Rotation students could help with the design simulations, work on There are many opportunities for rotation students. Experiment design and simulation studies will continue, tracking pattern recognition and vertexing code is being developed, help develop the data acquisition system for the experiment , or work on the silicon tracking and vertexing hardwarewill be designed and tested, a  silicon tracker/vertexer will be built, and the physics analysis and Monte Carlo will be developed. This experiment is very small by modern standards, but exploits the latest high tech detection and readout technologies to address a very fascinating piece of physics. It provides a perfect opportunity for a thesis student, offering all aspects of experimental work, from design to hardware implementation to data analysis.

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