Brian Collett

Since 2000 Brian Collett has been collaborating with Hamilton's Gordon Jones on projects in nuclear physics. Their work has included the development of compact 3He neutron spin filters for use in neutron scattering, and they are participants in the aCORN experiment, studying neutron decay at the National Institutes of Standards and Technologies.

Collett and Jones are responsible for the magnetic and electric fields in the experiment and have contributed extensively to the data collection and analysis. Before coming to Hamilton in 1986, Collett was a staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health and a visiting assistant professor of physics at Mt. Holyoke College. He received a doctorate from Princeton University.

Recent Courses Taught

Electronics and Computers
Electromagnetic Theory
Quantum Physics

Distinctions

• Samuel and Helen Lang Prize for Excellence in Teaching, Hamilton College, 2008
• Collaborative Measurement of the Electron-Antineutrino Correlation in Beta Decay; Weitfeldt, Leuschner, Jones, Collett, Komives;
  NSF Development MRI Grant PHY-0420716 ($270k), 2004
• The aCORN Experiment to Measure the Beta-Neutrino Asymmetry in Neutron Decay, Jones and Collett, NSF RUI Grant 0758240 ($120k) 2008 Polarized 3He Neutron Scattering
• Polarized 3He Neutron Scattering. Jones and Collett, DOE Grant DE-FG02-O3ER46093 ($200k), 2008
• The aCORN Experiment to Measure the Beta-Neutrino Asymmetry in Neutron Decay, Jones and Collett, NSF RUI Grant 1206033 ($150k), 2012

Selected Publications

• "What Brown saw, and you can too," Philip Pearle, Kenneth Bart, David Bilderback, Brian Collett, Dara Newman, and Scott Samuels. Am. J. Phys.78, 1278-1289 (2010).
• "aCORN: An Experiment to Measure the Electron–Antineutrino Correlation in Neutron Decay," F.E. Wietfeldt, J. Byrne, B. Collett, M.S. Dewey, G.L. Jones, A. Komives, A. Laptev, J.S. Nico, G. Noid, E.J. Stephenson, I. Stern, C. Trull, B.G. Yerozolimsky, NIM-A, 611, 207–210 (2009).
• "3He Spin Filters for a Thermal Neutron Triple-Axis Spectrometer," W. C. Chen, G. Armstrong, Y. Chen, B. Collett, R. Erwin, T. R. Gentile, G.L. Jones, J. W. Lynn, S. McKenney, J. E. Steinberg. Physica B, 397, 168-171 (2007).
• "Test of a continuously polarized 3He neutron spin filter with NMR-based polarization inversion on a single crystal diffractometer," G.L. Jones, F. Dias, B. Collett, W.C. Chen, T.R. Gentile, P.M.B. Piccoli, M.E. Miller, A.J. Schultz, H. Yan, X. Tong, W.M. Snow, W.T. Lee, C. Hoffmann, J. Thomison. Physica B 385-386, 131-1133, (2006).
• "Proposed Measurement of the Beta-Neutrino Correlation in Neutron Decay," B. Collett, R. Anderman, S. Balashov, F.B. Bateman, J. Byrne, M.S. Dewey, B.M. Fisher, L/ Goldin, G. Jones, A. Komives, T. Konopka, M. Leuschner, Yu. Mostovoy, J.S. Nico, A.K. Thompson, C. Trull, F.E. Wietfeldt Conference on Precision Measurements with Slow neutrons (PMSN), J. NIST 110, 401-405 (2005).

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Professional Affiliations

American Association of Physics Teachers
Sigma Xi

Appointed to the Faculty

1986

Educational Background

Ph.D., Princeton University
M.A., Cambridge University, England
B.A., with First Class Honours, Cambridge University, England