Associate Dean for Research
Professor of Physics
Contact Information
brad.plaster@uky.edu
239 Patterson Office Tower (ADR Office)
70 Chemistry-Physics Building (Faculty Office)
859-257-3960
Education
B.S. in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1999)
Ph.D. in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2003)
Postdoctoral Scholar in Physics, California Institute of Technology (2003-2008)
Affiliations
Physics & Astronomy
Nuclear Physics
Research
My research program is currently focused on precision measurements of neutron beta decay observables in the Nab experiment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the search for the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Precision measurements in neutron beta decay probe fundamental parameters of the weak interaction and contribute to tests of the Standard Model of particle physics. A discovery of the Time-Reversal-Symmetry-violating neutron EDM would have profound implications for our understanding of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe and physics beyond the Standard Model. I have also previously worked in neutron beta decay at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and also in electron scattering at the Jefferson Laboratory, the Mainz Microtron MAMI, and the MIT-Bates Accelerator on measurements of the electromagnetic and weak structure of the neutron and proton. My Ph.D. thesis on a precision measurement of the neutron electromagnetic form factors at Jefferson Laboratory is here . I have significant experience in leadership and management of complex projects at national laboratories. In particular, I served as the Level-1 Deputy Project Director (from 2020-2023) for the neutron electric dipole moment experiment which would have been conducted on the Fundamental Neutron Physics Beamline (FNPB) at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (i.e., the nEDM@SNS experiment). The nEDM@SNS experiment projected the world's leading sensitivity to the nEDM. Unfortunately, funding for the experiment, which was initiated some ~20 years prior, was terminated in late-2023, despite an investment of $58M to-date by the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation. Nevertheless, my years of service in this role provided me with valuable experience in leadership and large-scale project management at national laboratories, and with many lessons learned for success and failure . The position required constant communication with the scientific collaboration (~100 physicists and engineers representing ~20 U.S. and international institutions), ORNL leadership, and Department of Energy and National Science Foundation leadership. Others are now leading an effort to realize this experiment at the European Spallation Source in Sweden. I strongly support these efforts to realize the new nEDMSF experiment, even though I am not involved at the moment. The strong scientific merit of the physics is clearly articulated in the most recent Long Range Plan for the field of nuclear physics.
Please also see my personal webpage here .