Two New Trier juniors take second place for college-level research at national conference

Two New Trier juniors presented their research on cosmic raysat the American Association of Physics Teachers winter meeting in New Orleans this January, where they took second place among mostly college students for their poster presentation. 

Aitak Mosen Harzandi and Garrett Chong worked with New Trier Academic Assistance Center (AAC) tutor Nathan Unterman, who assisted the duo with their research, publication, and presentations, while the New Trier English Department assisted with editing their write-ups.

Using multiple detectors set at different angles of elevation, the students spent 15 months collecting muon data to look for the moon’s cosmic ray shadow. While a consistent dip in muon count hinted at its presence, the data was consistent with no signal. However, the students’ research helped set an upper limit that they hope will lead to the eventual discovery of the shadow.

“A signal emerged roughly 340 minutes before the meridian passage in the wider view, yet the narrower perspective did not reveal any clear signals,” Mosen Harzandi said. “Despite this, our focus remains on this specific timeframe, and we are optimistic that further adjustments might lead us to the discovery of the Moon's cosmic shadow.”

Mosen Harzandi was originally introduced to the project freshman year after her chemistry teacher connected her to Unterman for guidance in publishing an academic paper. Since then, his valuable assistance in analyzing and organizing data played a crucial role in their project, drawing from previous experience with conferences and posters and guiding the students in refining their presentation, she said. The students also analyzed data from two other students who work with Unterman: Benjamin Baronofsky and Jedidiah Marcus of Ida Crown Jewish Academy. 

“I’d always loved physics and wanted an opportunity to do authentic research in the field,” Chong said, who also became involved his freshman year after Unterman told him about the project. “It was a really good chance to finally get introduced into the research process, but also the field of particle physics, which can sometimes be hard to get into.”

Both students plan to continue their work post-high school: Mosen Harzandi intends to pursue a degree in the sciences in addition to more research, while Chong plans to study physics in college and is considering graduate school.