James Matthews

Biography

"Dr. James Matthews is currently working as a Professor  in the Department of Department of Physics & Astronomy , Louisiana State University , USA. His research interests includes highest energy cosmic rays at the Pierre Auger Observatory in western Argentina, hardware, electronics, data analysis, and computer simulations. He is serving as an editorial member and reviewer of several international reputed journals. Dr. James Matthews is the member of many international affiliations. He has successfully completed his Administrative responsibilities. He has authored of many research articles/books related to highest energy cosmic rays at the Pierre Auger Observatory in western Argentina, hardware, electronics, data analysis, and computer simulations. "

Research Interest

Prof. Matthews’ research involves the experimental study of the highest energy cosmic rays at the Pierre Auger Observatory in western Argentina. His group at LSU has been engaged in diverse projects on hardware, electronics, data analysis, and computer simulations. This project is an international collaboration of over 500 scientists and engineers. Prof. Matthews is the Co-Spokesperson of the Collaboration and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He has been a part of the Auger effort since its inception in 1992. The aim of the Auger Observatory is to measure the energy, direction, and composition of the highest energy (> 1019 eV) cosmic rays. No known mechanism can fully account for the acceleration of cosmic rays to such enormous energies - energies orders of magnitude beyond what is or ever will be achieved at terrestrial particle accelerators. Their extreme energy ensures that they suffer modest deflections when passing through relatively weak Galactic or intergalactic magnetic fields. Cosmic rays also may interact with the cosmic background radiation, so any observed at earth must have originated at distances within about 100 Mpc. Few possible sources exist so nearby. The near-linearity of trajectories and closeness of their origins make possible point-source astronomy with the highest energy cosmic rays. Accurate reconstruction of the axes of air showers produced in the earth's atmosphere by these cosmic rays should indicate their celestial source(s). The properties of the air showers also give information on particle interactions in a new energy regime.