Dr. Ömer Penek

Dr. Ömer Penek
  • Research Associate, joined in December 2016 (as a PhD student)
  • Focus of research: Sensitivity and Updated Analysis of CNO cycle solar neutrinos with Borexino. Combined analysis of ten years of Borexino data.

Scientific Profiles:
Contact:
  • Phone: +49 2461 61 4123
  • E-mail: o.penek_AT_fz-juelich.de

Education

  • 2021 PhD in Physics
    Physics Institute III, RWTH Aachen University
    Focus of research:Neutrino Physics and Beta Decay Spectroscopy
    Thesis title: Measurement of pp and CNO Cycle Solar Neutrinos with Borexino
  • 2016 M.Sc. in Physics
    Physics Institute III, RWTH Aachen University
    Focus of Research: Nuclear Physics, Elementary Particle Physics, Astroparticle Physics, Cosmology, and Quantum Field Theory
    Master Thesis: Calculation of the Cherenkov Light Yield for High-Energy Particle Cascades
  • 2013 B.Sc. in Physics
    Institute for Theory of Statistical Physics
    Focus of Research: Quantum Mechanics
    Bachelor Thesis: Numerical Solution of the Quantum-Vlasov-Equation in the Wigner-Representation

NEW: Institute Management Committee Member as Young Scientist Representative in the Nuclear Physics Institute

  • Topic: Representing Young Scientists in Academic Issues linked to the Institute Development
  • Decision making

NEW: Chair of the last plenary session at the 40th International Symposium on Physics in Collision 2021 (Aachen, Germany)

  • Topic: Gravitational Waves and Cosmology
  • Officially invited by the Head / Director of the Physics Institute IIIb at RWTH Aachen University

NEW: Official Member of the Borexino Talk Review Committee

  • Officially declared as Talk Review Committee member by the Borexino Institutional Board (one of four members)
  • Main Task: Review of Borexino Presentations which are going to be shown at e.g. conferences, workshops, etc.

Astroparticle Research: Solar Neutrino Physics

  • Analysis of solar neutrino data with Borexino
  • Sensitivity and Toy Monte Carlo studies towards measuring neutrinos from the CNO fusion cycle in the Sun
  • Significant contributions to the comprehensive measurement of pp chain and CNO cycle solar neutrinos
  • Significant contribution to non-standard neutrino interaction studies (radiative corrected neutrino-electron scattering) and recoiled electron spectra calculation

Nuclear Physics: Beta Spectroscopy

  • Nuclear Beta Decay Theory
  • Detector Response Modelling (plastic and liquid scintillators)
  • Geant4 based Monte Carlo Simulations of Decays and Interactions
  • Analysis of decay electrons from a {144}^Ce-{144}^Pr beta source to measure the shape factor of {144}^Pr

Coding: Development of a vectorized fast fitting environment for Borexino/JUNO Solar Neutrino Analysis

  • Spectral Analysis based on Monte Carlo Probability Density Functions
  • Fitting of Real and Pseudo Data
  • Pseudo Dataset Generation and Fitting in RunTime (without additional need of storage)
  • Additional implementations easily possible
  • Code Parallelization Possible (OpenAcc, OpenMP)
  • Development of a full non-equidistant binned 2D fitting approach

High Performance Computing Issues

  • Second principle investigator and person-to-contact for Solar Neutrino Analysis with Borexino Computing Projects (04/2017 - 01/2022)
  • Project and report writing
  • Setting up CPU / GPU parallel coding infractures on supercomputers (JURECA at Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany)
  • Setting up coding environments on international servers (JURECA in Germany, CNAF in Italy)

Student Supervision in Neutrino and Detector Physics Analyses

  • Bachelor and Master students (~4)
  • PhD students (~3)

Further topics

  • Statistical testing of composite hypotheses
  • Likelihood based fitting (Analytical, Monte Carlo approaches)
  • Likelihood Construction Techniques
  • Calculation of recoiled electron spectra from neutrino-electron interactions
  • Solar Neutrino Flux Calculations
  • Bayesian

Selected Scientific Publications

(Active) Teaching Experience (Tutorship)

  • Experimental Physics I for Bachelor Students, RWTH Aachen University (2014)
    Mechanics and Relativity
  • Elementary Particle Physics II for Master Students, RWTH Aachen University (2017)
    Neutrino Physics
  • Elementary Particle Physics II for Master Students, RWTH Aachen University (2018)
    Neutrino Physics

Selected Conference Contributions

    Selected Talks

  • Blois 2022: 33rd Rencontres de Blois on Exploring the Dark Universe, Blois, France, 2022
    Observation our Sun with Borexino
  • 17th International Conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics (TAUP 2021), Valencia, Spain, 2021
    Observation of CNO cycle solar neutrinos in Borexino
  • DPG Spring Meetings, Dortmund, Germany, 2021
    Measurement of $pp$ chain and CNO cycle solar neutrinos with Borexino
  • XIX International Workshop on Neutrino Telescopes, Padova/Venice, Italy (Online), 2021
    Sensitivity to CNO cycle solar neutrinos in Borexino
  • WIN2019. The 27th International Workshop on Weak Interactions and Neutrinos., Bari, Italy, 2019
    Measurement of pp-chain solar neutrinos with Borexino
  • DPG Spring Meetings, Aachen, Germany, 2019
    Analytical Multivariate Studies in the Borexino Solar Neutrino Analysis
  • DPG Spring Meetings, Wuerzburg, Germany, 2018
    Analytical Multivariate Fit in the Borexino Solar Neutrino Analysis
  • DPG Spring Meetings, Hamburg, Germany, 2016
    Calculation of the Cherenkov Light Yield of High-Energetic Particle Cascades in IceCube
  • DPG Spring Meetings, Mainz, Germany, 2014
    Calculation of the Cherenkov Light Yield of Ultra-High-Energetic Particle Cascades in Ice
  • Selected Posters

  • The 40th International Symposium on Physics in Collision 2021, Aachen, Germany, 2021
    First Experimental Evidence of CNO Cycle Solar Neutrinos by Borexino
  • Neutrino Conference, Fermilab, Illinois, USA, 2020
    Borexino Sensitivity Studies towards Detection of Solar Neutrinos from the CNO Fusion Cycle
  • Phystat-Nu Workshop, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, 2019
    Analytical Multivariate Fit and Sensitivity Studies in the Borexino Solar Neutrino Analysis
  • Borexino 10th Anniversary, L'Aquila, Italy, 2017
    Analytical Multivariate Fit with GooStats in the Borexino Solar Neutrino Analysis
  • 15th International Conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics (TAUP 2017), Sudbury, Canada, 2017
    Speeding up Multivariate Analysis with Parallel Computing

Selected Colloquia

    Invited Talks

  • Imperial College London, England, 2021
    Search for Non-Standard Neutrino Interactions in Borexino Phase-II
  • Institute for Nuclear Physics, FZ Juelich, Germany, 2020
    First experimental evidence of Neutrinos produced in the CNO fusion cycle in the Sun
  • University of Strasbourg, France, 2019
    Measurement of pp-chain solar neutrinos with Borexino and Towards Measuring CNO neutrinos