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| Ritesh Kshetri |
TRIUMF researcher Ritesh Kshetri attended the International Symposium on Nuclear Physics in India from December 8 to 12, 2009. There he presented a poster on characterization of TIGRESS detectors for high-energy gamma rays based on post-doctoral work done at TRIUMF. In addition, he had the opportunity to present his Ph.D thesis at the symposium for which he was awarded the C.V.K. Baba Prize from the Indian Physics Association (IPA) - one of the most prestigious honours awarded to nuclear physicists in India.
It is a tradition that Ph.D. theses in nuclear physics based on work done in India are presented at the Symposium on Nuclear Physics each year. Out of eight theses that were first presented as posters, three were selected for oral presentation. After answering many questions in front of a panel of judges and a full audience, Kshetri's thesis was selected as the best thesis presentation and was awarded the C.V.K. Baba Prize.
The thesis work Kshetri presented was based on studies of shell structure and evolution of collectivity on and away from the stability line. Both experimental and theoretical investigations were performed in two regions of the nuclear chart::stable nuclei with N ≈ Z near 40Ca and highly neutron-rich ones above 132Sn. The high-energy response of the Compton-suppressed Clover detectors were also studied.
Although Ritesh completed his graduate work in India (for which the award recognized), he expressed his gratitude towards TRIUMF for support - "I thank again Gordon [Ball] and Corina [Andreoiu] for giving me the opportunity to present the TIGRESS work and my thesis in this symposium."
The poster presented on TIGRESS characterization was post-doctoral work proposed, performed, and analyzed by Kshetri. Back at TRIUMF, he resumes writing a paper based on the work.
Kshetri was born and raised in Kolkata, India where he studied and received his Bachelor of Science in physics honours in 2000 and Masters of Science in pure physics in 2002. He started pursuing Ph.D. in nuclear physics when he joined Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics in 2002. In 2003, he received the prestigious Professor A.P. Patro Memorial Award for being adjudged the Best Student of Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics's Post M.Sc. Associateship Course 2002-03. Kshetri pursued his doctoral work under the supervision of Prof. Maitrayee Saha Sarkar of Nuclear and Atomic Physics division. After finishing his thesis work, he joined TRIUMF and Simon Fraser University for post-doctoral work and has been actively involved in both experimental and theoretical studies.
Kshetri's areas of interest include nuclear structure studies on and away from the stability line, nuclear astrophysics, and detector testing, simulation and characterization.
Congratulations Ritesh!
-- Melissa M. Baluk, Communications Assistant