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About Our Work

  The index of refraction is a property of a material which dictates how quickly light travels through that material. As light passes through a material with one index of refraction to a material with a different index of refraction, the light changes speed and "bends" as it changes mediums. When light travels from a material with a low index of refraction to one with a high index of refraction, the light is bent toward the normal, and vice verse.
  We are working to measure the index of refraction of aerogel to a very high degree of precision. This value is significant because the aerogel will be used as a particle identification system in the Kaon Aerogel Detector at JLab to distinguish between Kaons and Protons according to their momentum.