Research

My research interests lie at the intersection of computational physics, scientific software development, detector simulations, and research instrumentation. I am especially interested in building reproducible simulation and analysis workflows for experimental physics.

Research Focus

My current work combines analytical modelling, Geant4-based detector simulation, custom radioactive-source modelling, and ROOT analysis to study coincidence summing in beta-plus emitters. The research builds on the automated simulation platform developed during my master’s thesis.

The central progression of my work is: build a reusable simulation platform → establish and publicly reproduce the angular-factor method for an annular detector → apply it to the physical near-4π soccer-ball array.

Current Research

Angle-Resolved Annihilation-Photon Correlation Factors for an Annular NaI(Tl) Detector

Institution: Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
Supervisor: Prof. Anil Kumar Gourishetty
Role: First and corresponding author; lead derivation, simulation analysis, software, validation, figures, and manuscript writing
Status: Submitted to the DAE Symposium on Nuclear Physics 2026 on 8 September 2026

This public study establishes the angular factors needed to apply the coincidence-summing correction formalism to an annular NaI(Tl) detector. It was a necessary methodological step before extending the same approach to the more complex soccer-ball detector.

My contributions were:

• Corrected and extended an earlier unpublished mathematical treatment into a full-interval, angle-resolved formulation.
• Performed the analysis of one million isotropic 511-keV Geant4 11.3.2 events in 0.25° angular bins.
• Implemented total-interaction and effective full-energy response weighting using documented NaI(Tl) attenuation coefficients.
• Calculated a solid-angle coverage of 10.456 sr, or 83.205% of 4π.
• Obtained the full-precision factors wL1 = 1.260741, wL2 = 1.253825, and wG = 1.269388 for the stated ideal annular geometry.
• Cross-checked the calculation with independent numerical methods, reference coefficient data, and experimental validation supplied by the collaboration.
• Developed and released the complete Python reproducibility package.
• Prepared all figures and wrote the complete first-author manuscript.

Public software and reproducibility package: Angular Factors Calculator

The public annular results are distinct from the detector-specific soccer-ball results below, which remain private pending manuscript development and supervisor approval.

Coincidence-Summing Correction for β⁺ Emitters in a Near-4π NaI(Tl) Detector Array

Institution: Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
Supervisor: Prof. Anil Kumar Gourishetty
Period: July 2026–Present
Status: Ongoing research; peer-reviewed journal manuscript planned with confirmed second authorship

When multiple photons from the same decay deposit energy within a detector’s resolving interval, counts can be lost from individual photopeaks and transferred into sum peaks. In beta-plus emitters, the two back-to-back 511 keV annihilation photons introduce an additional geometry-dependent angular relationship that must be treated carefully in a high-efficiency detector array.

Prof. Gourishetty is developing the coincidence-summing correction formalism. My contribution is the computational work required to apply and validate it:

• Extended my Geant4–Python platform with new detector, source, campaign, and analysis capabilities.
• Reconstructed the published eight-block near-4π NaI(Tl) reference detector of Byun et al.
• Reproduced its published angular factors within a maximum relative difference of 2.3%.
• Implemented custom Geant4 sources from nuclear decay schemes, including probabilistic gamma emission and back-to-back 511 keV annihilation photons.
• Completed 10^8-event campaigns for Na-22, O-14, and Sc-44.
• Calculated detector-specific angular factors for the 32-element TIFR soccer-ball NaI(Tl) array.
• Benchmarked the detector model against published experimental measurements for the physical TIFR array, with simulated efficiencies consistent within 5%.
• Validated the correction procedure using independent coincidence-free monoenergetic simulations.

The detector-specific factor values, detailed correction results, equations, calculation tables, plots, and research code remain private until approved for public release by the supervisor.

Master’s Thesis Research and Software Development

A Python-Assisted Geant4 Workflow for Automated Scintillation Detector Response Simulations

Institution: Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
Supervisor: Prof. Anil Kumar Gourishetty
Period: 2025–Present

My master’s thesis developed an automated Geant4–Python workflow for campaign-level scintillation detector response studies. The software remains actively maintained, extended, and used in my current research. The workflow integrates a configurable Geant4 C++ backend with Python automation for macro generation, batch execution, ROOT output validation, deposited-energy spectrum generation, count extraction, plotting, and table generation.

The framework supports:

• Monoenergetic gamma simulations
• Radioactive-decay simulations
• Beta-plus decay cases
• Material-dependent detector studies
• Detector-size studies
• Geometry-dependent response studies

Detector Simulation Work

The simulation backend supports multiple detector geometries:

• Solid cylindrical scintillation detectors
• Hollow annular detector geometries
• Custom near-4π soccer-ball-style detector geometry

Implemented scintillator materials include:

• NaI
• LaBr3
• CsI
• BGO
• GGAG
• PbWO4

These configurations allow systematic comparison of detector response as a function of geometry, material, source configuration, and event statistics.

Simulation and Analysis Workflow

The research workflow connects the following stages:

1. Define detector material, geometry, source configuration, and event count.
2. Generate Geant4 macro files using Python.
3. Run simulation campaigns through the Geant4 executable.
4. Validate ROOT output files.
5. Extract deposited-energy information from the event tree.
6. Generate deposited-energy spectra.
7. Extract photopeak, sum-peak, and total non-zero deposited-energy counts.
8. Export final plots and comparison tables.

This approach makes the simulation-analysis chain more traceable and easier to extend across new detector materials, geometries, and source cases.

High-Performance Computing

As part of workflow validation, high-statistics simulations were executed on the PARAMGanga high-performance computing facility at IIT Roorkee. These included simulations with up to 10^8 events, demonstrating that the same workflow can be used for both lightweight reference examples and larger research campaigns.

Research Outputs

This work has resulted in:

• Master’s thesis: A Python-Assisted Geant4 Workflow for Automated Scintillation Detector Response Simulations

• Research software repository: Geant4 Detector Simulation Pipeline

• First- and corresponding-author conference paper submitted to DAE SNP 2026 on 8 September 2026: Angle-resolved annihilation-photon correlation factors for an annular NaI(Tl) detector

• Public reproducibility package: Angular Factors Calculator

• First-author conference presentation: A Python-based Tool for Automated Geant4 Simulations of Scintillation Detectors
  Accepted for poster presentation at IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium 2026.

Broader Direction

My broader research direction is to develop computational tools, simulation workflows, and instrumentation-support software for experimental physics. I am interested in applying these skills to detector physics, radiation detection, optical simulations, astrophysical instrumentation, and high-performance scientific computing.