Xin Qian
Research Staff 6 Physics, Electronic Detector Group, Physics Department

Brookhaven National Laboratory
Physics Department
Bldg. 510E, Room 3-179
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000
(631) 344-3828
xqian@bnl.gov
Pronouns: he, him, his
I am also an Associate Adjunct Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the Stony Brook University.
My physics interest lies on answering some of the remaining questions about neutrinos: i) are there new CP violations in the neutrino sector? ii) what is the nature of non-zero neutrino mass and mixing? and iii) are there new flavors of neutrino? I have been spending most of my time working on the development of the Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC), which is a new and powerful detector technology to study accelerator neutrinos. Together with my colleagues, we came up with a new way of performing event reconstruction in LArTPC: Wire-Cell. This technique is expected to be crucial for upcoming LArTPC experiments: SBN and DUNE.
Recently, I am working to develop a new rare pion decay experiments: PIONEER, to test lepton flavor universality and CKM unitarity. See SNOWMASS white paper.
Prior working on particle physics, I worked on electron scattering experiments in understanding the spin structure of nucleon at Jefferson Lab.
Expertise | Research | Education | Appointments | Publications | Highlights | Awards
Expertise
- Physics analysis
- Event reconstruction with LArTPC
- Statistics
- Detector R&D
Research Activities
Current Research:
- Accelerator Neutrino Experiments: DUNE, MicroBooNE, ICARUS, SBND
- Reactor Neutrino Experiments: Daya Bay, PROSPECT
- Detector R&D: liquid argon properties, detector readout
- Event Reconstruction in LArTPC: Wire-Cell
- Rare Pion Decay Experiment: PIONEER
Past Research:
- SoLID Neutron Transversity @ 12 GeV
- ATHENNA-SoLID Electroproduction of J/Psi Near Threshold
- Electron-Ion Collider
- Transversity E06-010 and E06-011
- Phi analysis
- Color Transparency E01-107 , L/T separation
Education
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Duke University, Durham, NC Ph.D. Experimental Nuclear Physics May 2010
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Peking University, Beijing, China B.S. Physics July 2003
Professional Appointments
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Brookhaven National Laboratory, Tenured Physicist Apr. 2020 –
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Stony Brook University, Associate Adjunct Professor Sep. 2020 -
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Brookhaven National Laboratory, Physicist Oct. 2017-Apr. 2020
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Brookhaven National Laboratory, Associate Physicist Oct. 2015-Oct.2017
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Brookhaven National Laboratory, Assistant Physicist Oct. 2013-Oct. 2015
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Brookhaven National Laboratory, Research Associate May 2013-Oct. 2015
- California Institute of Technology, Robert A. Millikan Postdoctoral Scholar 2010-2013
Selected Publications
- Adams C, An R, Anthony J, Asaadi J, Auger M, et al. (2018) Ionization electron signal processing in single phase LArTPCs. Part I. Algorithm Description and quantitative evaluation with MicroBooNE simulation. Journal of Instrumentation 13:P07006–P07006. doi: 10.1088/1748-0221/13/07/p07006
- Abratenko P, Alrashed M, An R, Anthony J, Asaadi J, et al. (2021) Neutrino event selection in the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber using Wire-Cell 3D imaging, clustering, and charge-light matching. Journal of Instrumentation 16:P06043. doi: 10.1088/1748-0221/16/06/p06043
- Abratenko P, Alrashed M, An R, Anthony J, Asaadi J, et al. (2021) Cosmic Ray Background Rejection with Wire-Cell LArTPC Event Reconstruction in the MicroBooNE Detector. Physical Review Applied. doi: 10.1103/physrevapplied.15.064071
- Qian X, Peng J-C (2019) Physics with reactor neutrinos. Reports on Progress in Physics 82:036201. doi: 10.1088/1361-6633/aae881
- Qian X, Zhang C, Viren B, Diwan M (2018) Three-dimensional imaging for large LArTPCs. Journal of Instrumentation 13:P05032–P05032. doi: 10.1088/1748-0221/13/05/p05032
- Tang W, Li X, Qian X, Wei H, Zhang C (2017) Data Unfolding with Wiener-SVD Method. Journal of Instrumentation 12:P10002–P10002. doi: 10.1088/1748-0221/12/10/p10002
- Abratenko P, An R, Anthony J, et al (2022) Wire-cell 3D pattern recognition techniques for neutrino event reconstruction in large LArTPCs: algorithm description and quantitative evaluation with MicroBooNE simulation. Journal of Instrumentation 17:P01037. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/17/01/p01037
- Adamson P, An FP, Anghel I, Aurisano A, Balantekin AB, et al. (2016) Limits on Active to Sterile Neutrino Oscillations from Disappearance Searches in the MINOS, Daya Bay, and Bugey-3 Experiments. Physical Review Letters. doi: 10.1103/physrevlett.117.151801
- Qian X, Tan A, Ling JJ, Nakajima Y, Zhang C (2016) The Gaussian CL method for searches of new physics. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 827:63–78. doi: 10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.089
- Qian X, Vogel P (2015) Neutrino mass hierarchy. Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics 83:1–30. doi: 10.1016/j.ppnp.2015.05.002
- Qian X, Dwyer DA, McKeown RD, Vogel P, Wang W, Zhang C (2013) Mass hierarchy resolution in reactor anti-neutrino experiments: Parameter degeneracies and detector energy response. Physical Review D. doi: 10.1103/physrevd.87.033005
- Qian X, Tan A, Wang W, Ling JJ, McKeown RD, Zhang C (2012) Statistical evaluation of experimental determinations of neutrino mass hierarchy. Physical Review D. doi: 10.1103/physrevd.86.113011
- An FP, Bai JZ, Balantekin AB, Band HR, Beavis D, et al. (2012) Observation of Electron-Antineutrino Disappearance at Daya Bay. Physical Review Letters. doi: 10.1103/physrevlett.108.171803
- Qian X, Allada K, Dutta C, Huang J, Katich J, et al. (2011) Single Spin Asymmetries in Charged Pion Production from Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering on a Transversely PolarizedHe3Target atQ2=1.4–2.7 GeV2. Physical Review Letters. doi: 10.1103/physrevlett.107.072003
- Qian X, Horn T, Clasie B, Arrington J, Asaturyan R, et al. (2010) Experimental study of theA(e,e′π+) reaction onH1,H2,C12,Al27,Cu63, andAu197. Physical Review C. doi: 10.1103/physrevc.81.055209
- Abratenko P, An R, Anthony J, et al (2022) Search for an Excess of Electron Neutrino Interactions in MicroBooNE Using Multiple Final-State Topologies. Physical Review Letters 128:. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.128.241801
- Abratenko P, An R, Anthony J, et al (2022) First Measurement of Energy-Dependent Inclusive Muon Neutrino Charged-Current Cross Sections on Argon with the MicroBooNE Detector. Physical Review Letters 128:. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.128.151801
- Zhang C, Qian X, Fallot M (2024) Reactor antineutrino flux and anomaly. Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics 136:104106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppnp.2024.104106
- Abratenko P, Andrade Aldana D, Anthony J, et al (2023) First Constraints on Light Sterile Neutrino Oscillations from Combined Appearance and Disappearance Searches with the MicroBooNE Detector. Physical Review Letters 130:. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.130.011801
Research Highlights
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New MicroBooNE Analysis Takes a Closer Look at the Sterile Neutrino
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Breakthrough MicroBooNE Measurement Elucidates Neutrino Interactions
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News release on the search for low-energy excess in MicroBooNE
- Feature story on Wire-Cell event reconstruction
- News release on generic neutrino detection in MicroBooNE
- Feature story on LArTPC signal processing
- Feature story on LArTPC noise filtering
- Feature story on MicroBooNE
- News release on the Search for Sterile Neutrino in Daya Bay
- Measurement of mass squared splitting from Daya Bay
- Discovery of non-zero theta13 from Daya Bay
Awards & Recognition
- 2023 The High Energy and Particle Physics Prize (as a member of Daya Bay collaboration), High-Energy Division of EPS
- 2022 BNL Science and Technology Award
- 2017 EPS Young Experimental Scientist Prize, also BNL news release
- 2016 Breakthrough Prize as a member of Daya Bay Collaboration , also BNL news release
- 2015 BNL Sambamurti Lecturer
- 2014 DOE Early Career Award, also BNL news release
- 2011 Jefferson Lab Thesis Prize Award

Brookhaven National Laboratory
Physics Department
Bldg. 510E, Room 3-179
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000
(631) 344-3828
xqian@bnl.gov