David Z. Besson, Professor

1075 Malott Hall
TEL: (785) 864-4741
FAX: (785) 864-5262
Email: zedlam@ku.edu  
Home Page:http://www.physics.ku.edu/facilities/rice/rice.html

Professional Background:

2001-present: Professor, University of Kansas
1997-2001: Associate Professor, University of Kansas
1993-1996: Assistant Professor, University of Kansas
1990-1993: Cornell, Postdoctoral Research Associate

Education:

Ph.D., 1986: Physics, Rutgers University
B.S., 1979:Physics, Columbia University

Research Interests:

I am currently involved in several projects, including the CLEO experiment (high-energy experimental physics at 3-10 GeV center-of-mass energies, using the CESR accelerator in Ithaca, NY and based at Cornell University), the RICE experiment (ultra-high energy neutrino detection based on measurement of long-wavelength Cherenkov radiation, for which I am the PI), ANITA (balloon-borne detection of neutrinos in Antarctica, based at the University of Hawaii) and the IceCube experiment (based at the University of Wisconsin), in my capacity as a kvetch and parasite. I am also exploring an initiative with Igor Zheleznykh and collaborators at the Institute of Nuclear Research in Moscow to mount a neutrino-detector on a Russian-made tethered balloon at Station Vostok in the High Eastern Plateau of Antarctica. I would like to gratefully acknowledge support from the NSF, the Cottrell Research Corporation, the University of Kansas, the State of Kansas, the Civilian Research Defense Fund (CRDF) and the Fulbright Foundation, without whom I would be mired in destitution.

Others:

1) "Latin Award", Metuchen High School, Metuchen, NJ, 1979
2) "All-County Wrestling", Middlesex Co., Middlesex, NJ, 1979
3) "Top 25 Unsigned Bands", Rolling Stone Magazine, 1993
4) CLEO Collaboration Analysis Coordinator, 1990-1993
5) 1st in age group, Race Around the World, South Pole, 2004

Selected Publication:

1. S. Barwick, D. Besson, P. Gorham and D. Saltzberg, South Polar in situ Radio Frequency Ice Attenuation, Journal of Glaciology, in press (2005)

2. I. Kravchenko, D. Besson, and J. Meyers, In situ index of refraction measurements of the South Polar firn with the RICE detector, Journal of Glaciology, in press (2005)

3. Heavy Quarkonium Physics, N. Brambilla et al., hep-ph/0412158, to appear as a CERN Yellow Report

4. (CLEO Collaoration) D. Besson et al., Search for /\b/\b-bar near Threshold", Physical Review D71, 012004 (2005)

5. (ANITA Collaboration), A. Silvestri et al., Status of ANITA and ANITA-lite, astro-ph/0411007, Proceedings of International School of Cosmic Ray Astrophysics, 14th Course: "Neutrinos and Explosive Events in the Universe", Erice, Italy, 2-13 July 2004

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