John D. Tickle Professor
Biography
Dr. Lawrence Heilbronn is the John D. Tickle Professor in the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Prior to joining the faculty in 2008, he was a staff scientist in the Life Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He is a member of the American Physical Society (APS), the American Nuclear Society (ANS), the Health Physics Society (HPS), and the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP).
Research
Space nuclear sciences including shielding for crew and electronics, space radiation transport in support of science missions, and nuclear thermal propulsion; radioisotope production at accelerators and reactors; health physics aspects of radioisotope transport in workplace environments; nuclear cross section measurements; neutron-antineutron and mirror neutron oscillations experiments.
Education
Ph.D., Experimental Nuclear Physics, Michigan State University, 1991
M.S., Nuclear Physics, University of Illinois, 1984
B.A., Physics, University of Montana, 1982
Professional Service
Past chair, awards chair, executive committee member of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (RPSD) of the ANS, 2012 – present
Internship and Mentoring Program committee member, NCRP, 2020 – present
Faculty Advisor, UTK HPS Student chapter, 2018 – present
Awards and Recognitions
2022, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2012, 2010 – Professor of the Year Award, Department of Nuclear Engineering
2017 – Leon and Nancy Cole Superior Teaching Award
2015 – College of Engineering Teaching Fellow Award
2022 – TennACADA Faculty Advisor Award
2017 – Named the John D. Tickle Professor in the College of Engineering
2015 – Chancellor’s Research and Creative Achievement – Professional Promise Award
2015 – College of Engineering Professional Promise in Research Award
1996, 2002 – Outstanding Performance Award, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Publications
Below are select publications. For a full list, visit Heilbronn's Google Scholar profile.
E. Creasman, T. J. Harrison, L. H Heilbronn, “Fuel depletion study of the molten salt demonstration reactor”, Nuclear Engineering and Design, 418 (2024) DOI 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2023.112881
N. Ratliff, N. A. McGirl , M. R. Beach, L. A. Castellanos , M. S. Clowdsley, L. H. Heilbronn, C. LaTessa, J. W. Norbury, A. Rusek, M. Sivertz, A. P. Srikrishna, H.-C. Wang, C. Zeitlin, “Double-differential primary target neutron yields from dual-thick-target proton and heavy ion accelerator experiments”, Nucl. Instrum. Meth B, 542 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2023.06.001
N. Ratliff, N. A. McGirl , M. R. Beach, L. A. Castellanos , M. S. Clowdsley, L. H. Heilbronn, C. LaTessa, J. W. Norbury, A. Rusek, M. Sivertz, A. P. Srikrishna, H.-C. Wang, C. Zeitlin, “Development of scalable deconvolution methods for determining secondary target neutron yields from dual-thick-target cosmic-ray ion accelerator experiments”, Nucl. Instum. Meth B, 544 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2023.165121
Burahmah, J. R. Griswold, L. H. Heilbronn, L. A. Bernstein, A. S. Voyles, J. T. Morrell, M. Zach, and R. Copping, “229Pa cross section measurements via deuteron irradiation of 232Th” Phys. Rev. C 108, 024609 (2023) DOI 10.1103/PhysRevC.108.024609
Neupane, J. Heideman, R. Grzywacz, M. Cooper, Hooker, K.L. Jones, T.T. King, N. Kitamura, M. Madurga, K. Siegl, C.R. Thornsberry, P. Wagenknecht, Z. Xu, L.H. Heilbronn, M.M. Rajabali, A. Chester, A. Richard, Y. Alberty-Jones, J. Derkin, T.N. Massey, D. Soltesz, N. Brewer, B. Rasco, K. Rykaczewski, M. Wolinska-Cichocka, and G. Savard, “Demonstration of the neutron tracking capability of NEXT in time-of-flight measurements to improve energy resolution”, Phys. Rev. C 106, 044320 (2022)
J. Broussard, J. L. Barrow, L. DeBeer-Schmitt, T. Dennis, M. R. Fitzsimmons, M. J. Frost, C. E. Gilbert, F. M. Gonzalez, L. Heilbronn, E. B. Iverson, A. Johnston, Y. Kamyshkov, M. Kline, P. Lewiz, C. Matteson, J. Ternullo, L. Varriano, and S. Vavra, “Experimental Search for Neutron to Mirror Neutron Oscillations as an Explanation of the Neutron Lifetime Anomaly”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 212503 (2022).
Neupanea, J. Heideman, R. Grzywacz, J. Hooker, K.L. Jones, N. Kitamura, C.R. Thornsberry, L.H. Heilbronn, M.M. Rajabali, Y. Alberty-Jones, J. Derkin, T. Massey, D. Soltesz, “Neutron detection efficiency of the Neutron dEtector with Xn Tracking (NEXT)”, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A, vol. 1020, 165881 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2021.165881
Addazi, A., Anderson, K., Ansell, S., Babu, K. S., Barrow, J. L., Baxter, D. V., .Heilbronn, L.., et al.. “New high-sensitivity searches for neutrons converting into antineutrons and/or sterile neutrons at the HIBEAM/NNBAR experiment at the European Spallation Source”. Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics, 48(7). doi:10.1088/1361-6471/abf429 (2021)
Burahmah, J. W. Griswold, L. Heilbronn, and S. Mirzadeh, “Transport Model Predictions of 225Ac Production Cross Sections via Energetic p, d and 4He Irradiation of 232Th Targets”, Applied Radiation and Isotopes 2021 March 3, 172: 109676
Norbury J. W., Battistoni G., Besuglow J., Bocchini L., Boscolo D., Botvina A., Clowdsley M., de Wet W., Durante M., Giraudo M., Haberer T., Heilbronn L., Horst F., Krämer M., La Tessa C., Luoni F., Mairani A., Muraro S., Norman R. B., Patera V., Santin G., Schuy C., Sihver L., Slaba T. C., Sobolevsky N., Topi A., Weber U., Werneth C. M., Zeitlin C., “Are Further Cross Section Measurements Necessary for Space Radiation Protection or Ion Therapy Applications? Helium Projectiles”, Frontiers in Physics 8, (2020) DOI:10.3389/fphy.2020.565954