Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
Provakar joined the group in 2018 as a Ph.D. thesis student. He got his bachelors and masters degrees in physics from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras respectively. In the first one and a half years after joining the group, Provakar worked on several simulation projects which helped with the preparation for the running of several Super BigBite Spectrometer (SBS) collaboration experiments, as well as the testing of photomultiplier tubes for the Ring Imaging Cherenkov Detector for SBS. Then in January 2021, after finishing all required classes in the Ph.D. program, he relocated to Virginia and got involved in hardware work at Jefferson Lab. Provakar took a lead role in the testing, commissioning and calibration of the electron calorimeter, A.K.A the BigBite Calorimeter or BBCAL, which is an integral part of the electron arm spectrometer that is going to be used in almost all SBS experiments, scheduled to run in Jefferson Lab’s Hall A. One of these several SBS experiments is E12-09-019, which aims to measure the neutron’s magnetic form factor, GMn, up to Q^2=13.6 GeV^2. The data taking of E12-09-019 was finished recently and, as a thesis student on E12-09-019, Provakar’s primary focus right now is leading the analysis of the data collected during the GMN run from Fall 2021-February 2022. Provakar defended his doctoral dissertation in September 2024 and will continue in the group as a postdoctoral research associate.
Anuruddha Rathnayake joined the group as a postdoctoral research associate in October 2024. Anuruddha completed his Ph.D. in 2024 with Professor Nilanga Liyanage at the University of Virginia (UVA), on the SBS measurement of the neutron magnetic form factor GMn at large Q2. Prior to his Ph.D. at UVA, Anuruddha completed his B.S. in physics at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. Biosketch and photo forthcoming.