Sensitivity Studies for the KATRIN experiment

The KATRIN experiment aims to determine the mass of the electron anti-neutrino with a sensitivity of 200 meV by investigating the endpoint of the tritium beta decay spectrum. This thesis uses a newly developed detailed model of the KATRIN tritium source in combination with results from test experiments to verify that this sensitivity can be reached. Additionally, an envisioned second phase with an enhanced sensitivity is investigated as well

Kassiopeia: A Modern, Extensible C++ Particle Tracking Package

The Kassiopeia particle tracking framework is an object-oriented software package using modern C++ techniques, written originally to meet the needs of the KATRIN collaboration. Kassiopeia features a new algorithmic paradigm for particle tracking simulations which targets experiments containing complex geometries and electromagnetic fields, with high priority put on calculation efficiency, customizability, extensibility, and ease of use for novice programmers. To solve Kassiopeia's target physics problem the software is capable of simulating particle trajectories governed by arbitrarily complex differential equations of motion, continuous physics processes that may in part be modeled as terms perturbing that equation of motion, stochastic processes that occur in flight such as bulk scattering and decay, and stochastic surface processes occuring at interfaces, including transmission and reflection effects. This entire set of computations takes place against the backdrop of a rich geometry package which serves a variety of roles, including initialization of electromagnetic field simulations and the support of state-dependent algorithm-swapping and behavioral changes as a particle's state evolves. Thanks to the very general approach taken by Kassiopeia it can be used by other experiments facing similar challenges when calculating particle trajectories in electromagnetic fields. It is publicly available at https://github.com/KATRIN-Experiment/Kassiopei

On structuring primitives and communication primitives for design environments

The evolution of CAD systems can be described in several stages which reflect an increasing effort for system Integration. It starts from a file-and-translator approach evolving to a data-integrated tool environment, and finally reaching the stage of a data-integrated design environment for CAD (sometimes also called CAD Framework). In the following we will detail some aspects of these stages