department of physics & astronomy, UCLA

Taylor W. Aune - Curriculum Vitae 

Education

University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California USA

  • Ph.D., Physics 2012
    • Thesis Topic: Observations of Gamma-ray bursts at Extreme Energies
    • Adviser: David A. Williams
  • M.S., Physics 2009
    • Research Topic: Searches for Very High Energy Emission from Gamma-ray Bursts
    • Adviser: David A. Williams

The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois USA

  • B.A., Physics 2004
    • With honors
    • Research Focus: Direct dark-matter and neutrino detection
    • Senior Project: Determining quenching factors of ultra-low-energy nuclear recoils in Ar and Xe
    • Adviser: Juan I. Collar
  • B.S., Mathematics 2004
    • Focus: Logic, computability and complexity theory

Research Experience

University of California, Los Angeles
Department of Physics & Astronomy, Los Angeles, California USA

  • Postdoctoral Scholar 2012 –
    • Search for very high energy gamma rays from ultra-luminous infrared galaxies
    • Site selection for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) experiment
    • Software development for the primary mirror control for the CTA Schwarzschild-Couder telescope prototype
    • Search for bursts of gamma rays from primordial black hole evaporation
    • The VERITAS sky survey - particle acceleration in the Cygnus region of the Galaxy
    • Search for very high energy emission from gamma-ray burst afterglows with VERITAS

University of California, Santa Cruz
Department of Physics, Santa Cruz, California USA

  • Graduate Research Assistant 2006 – 2012
    • Search for very high energy emission from gamma-ray burst afterglows with VERITAS
    • Study of VERITAS sensitivity to the brightest Fermi-LAT detected GRBs
    • Search for prompt gamma-ray emission from GRBs with the Milagro array
    • Development of software analysis to improve the sensitivity of Milagro to low-energy events
    • Study of the EBL absorption of gamma-ray emission from GRBs with the STACEE experiment

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
Advanced Technology Center, Palo Alto, California USA

  • Physicist 2004 – 2006
    • Design, construction, testing of both hardware and software for an imaging gamma-ray detector to be used for the detection of illicit nuclear materials.
    • Investigation and simulation (GEANT4 and beam line tests) of the detector efficiency and response for a prototype design of the Solar Galactic Proton Sensor to be flown on NASA’s GOES-R satellite.

The University of Chicago
Department of Physics, Chicago, Illinois USA

  • Undergraduate Research Assistant 2002 – 2004
    • Study of quenching factors of ultra-low-energy nuclear recoils in Ar and Xe
    • Improving the scintillation yield of the organic liquid scintillators C6F6 and C6F5I
    • Searches for solar axions with the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST)

Awards & Fellowhips

NASA Graduate Student Research Program Fellowship
NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center 2008 – 2011

  • Proposal Title: Very High Energy Observations of Gamma-Ray Bursts Detected by GLAST and Swift
  • Adviser: Neil Gehrels

Departmental Regents Fellowship
Physics Department, University of California Santa Cruz 2009

  • In support of GRB analysis with data from VERITAS, Milagro and Fermi

Teaching

University of California, Santa Cruz
Department of Physics, Santa Cruz, California USA

  • Graduate Teaching Assistant 2007
    • Laboratory section for first quarter non-physics science majors (Phys. 6A)

Refereed Journal Publications

Acciari, V.A., Aliu, E., Arlen T., Aune, T., Beilicke, M., et al. (VERITAS Collaboration), “VERITAS Observations of Gamma-ray Bursts Detected by Swift” ApJ, 2011, 743, 62. arXiv:1109.0050v2

Abdo, A. A., Abeysekara, U., Allen, B. T., Aune, T., Berley, D., et al. (Milagro Collaboration), “Constraints on the emission model of the Naked-Eye Burst GRB 080319B” ApJL, 2012 753, L31.

Jarvis, A., Ong, R.A., Williams, D.A., Aune, T., Ball, J., et al. (STACEE Collaboration), “Very High Energy Observations of Gamma-ray Bursts with STACEE” ApJ, 2010, 722, 862.

Conference Proceedings

Aune, T., for the VERITAS Collaboration, “Very high energy follow-up observations of GRBs detected by Fermi and Swift” Procs. of the 32nd International Cosmic Ray Conference, Beijing, China (2011), arXiv:1111.1326v1

Aune, T., for the Milagro and VERITAS Collaborations, “Very high energy observations of satellite-detected gamma-ray bursts” 2011, Procs. of Gamma-Ray Bursts 2010, Eds. J.E. McEnery, J.L. Racusin, and N. Gehrels, AIPC, 1358 201

Aune, T., for the Milagro Collaboration, “Constraints on GeV-TeV emission from the “naked-eye” GRB 080319B” 2010, Procs. The Shocking Universe 2009, Eds. G. Chincarini, P. D’Avanzo, R. Margutti, and R. Salvaterra, Italian Phys. Soc. Conf. Proc. 102, 217

Aune, T., for the Milagro Collaboration, “A Search for GeV-TeV Emission from Gamma-Ray Bursts Using the Milagro Detector” 2009, Procs. Huntsville GRB Symposium 2008, Eds. C.A. Meegan, N. Gehrels, and C. Kouveliotou, AIPC, 1133, 385

Aune, T., and Saz Parkinson, P.M. for the Milagro Collaboration, “Search for GeV-TeV emission from GRB 080319B using the Milagro Observatory” 2009, Procs. 31st International Cosmic Ray Conference

Aune, T., for the Milagro Collaboration “Search for 1-100 GeV Emission from Gamma-Ray Bursts Using Milagro” 2008, Procs. 30th International Cosmic Ray Conference, Eds. R Caballero et al., Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico, 3, 1139

References

David A. Williams, University of California, Santa Cruz, 831-459-3032, daw@ucsc.edu
Rene A. Ong, University of California, Los Angeles, 310-825-3622, rene@astro.ucla.edu
T. Brian Humensky, Columbia University, 212-854-8280, humensky@nevis.columbia.edu
Neil Gehrels, NASA/GSFC, 301-286-6546, neil.gehrels@nasa.gov
Juan I. Collar, University of Chicago, 773-702-4253, collar@uchicago.edu