Areg Danagoulian

Bio

Areg Danagoulian is an associate professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT. His current research interests focus on nuclear physics applications in societal problems, such  as nuclear nonproliferation, technologies for arms control  treaty verification, nuclear safeguards, and cargo security. The Forum on Physics and Society Fellowship elected Danagoulian for seminal technological contributions in the field of arms control and cargo security, which significantly benefit international security. Danagoulian also serves as the faculty co-director for MIT’s MISTI Eurasia program.

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Awards

• Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2024
• Arms Control Persons of the Year, ACA, 2019
• Radiation Science and Technology Award, ANS, 2019
• Teaching with Digital Technology Award Nomination, MIT, 2016
• IEEE/NPSS Radiation Instrumentation Early Career Award, 2015
• Award for Superior Performance in Support of the DNDO Mission (issued to the SNAR team, PSI), 2012

Research

1. Verification of nuclear disarmament treaties via resonant phenomena and physical cryptography.
2. Multiple Monoenergetic Gamma Radiography and other methodologies for cargo screening

Patents

“Photon Induced Neutron Time Correlations in Special Nuclear Materials”, Passport Systems Inc., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. LLNL Record of Invention (ROI) #: IL-12894

Publications

Selected Publications

1. E. M. Engel*, A. Danagoulian, “A physically cryptographic warhead verification system using neutron induced nuclear resonances,” Nature Communications, vol. 10 (2019) 1, (arXiv:1907.06978)
2. Jayson R Vavrek*, Brian S Henderson*, Areg Danagoulian, “Experimental demonstration of an isotope-sensitive warhead verification technique using nuclear resonance fluorescence,” Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, vol. 115 (2018) 17, (arXiv:1712.02904)
3. Brian S. Henderson*, Hin Y. Lee*, Thomas D. MacDonald*, Roberts G. Nelson*, Areg Danagoulian, “Experimental Demonstration of Multiple Monoenergetic Gamma Radiography for Effective Atomic Number Identification in Cargo Inspection,” Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 123 (2018) 17,(arXiv:1802.04225)
4. J. Hecla*, A. Danagoulian, “Nuclear Disarmament Verification via Resonant Phenomena,” vol. 9 (2018) 1, p.1259, (arXiv:1709.09736)
5. R.S. Kemp, A. Danagoulian, R.R. Macdonald, J.R. Vavrek*, “Physical Cryptographic Verification of Nuclear Warheads,” Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, vol. 113 (2016) 31, all authors contributed equally to this publication
6. B.E. O’Day III*, Z.S. Hartwig*, R.C. Lanza, A. Danagoulian, “Initial Results from a Multiple Monoenergetic Gamma Radiography System for Nuclear Security,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A, vol. 832 (2016) pp. 68–76
7. A. Danagoulian et al.,“Compton Scattering Cross Section on the Proton at High Momentum Transfer”, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 98, 152001 (2007)
8. R. Hasty et al.,“Strange Magnetism and the Anapole Structure of the Proton," Science Vol. 290, (2000), pp 2117–2119

Teaching

22.09 Principles of Nuclear Radiation Measurement & Protection

22.12 Radiation Interactions, Control, and Measurement

News

• Areg Danagoulian elected 2024 American Physical Society Fellow
• How nuclear power saved Armenia
• Building technological tools for nuclear disarmament
• 3Q with Areg Danagoulian
• Advancing nuclear detection and inspection
• How to dismantle a nuclear bomb
• For nuclear weapons reduction, a way to verify without revealing
• NSE’s Danagoulian wins IEEE/NPSS Radiation Instrumentation Early Career Award
• LNSP receives $3.2M for nuclear warhead verification
• NSE extends security-related efforts with appointment of Areg Danagoulian