Research in Elementary Particle Physics

该奖项是芝加哥大学基础粒子物理研究项目的延续，该项目由三个团队组成，每个团队都在世界范围内粒子物理的主要实验之一中发挥主导作用：(1)伊利诺斯州巴达维亚费米实验室1.8 Tev质子-反质子对撞机的CDF实验；(2)位于瑞士日内瓦的欧洲核子研究中心（CERN）的大型正负电子对撞机LEP的四个探测器之一的OPAL实验；(3)费米实验室固定目标项目中为新的K介子束正在建造的KTEV实验。CDF的主要目标是找到顶夸克，它是标准模型中六个强子物质成分中最后一个也是最重的。欧泊尔正在研究中性中间矢量玻色子Z，它和光子一样，是统一电磁力和控制核衰变的力的核心。KTEV是一个项目的下一步，该项目试图理解CP对称性破坏的起源，而CP对称性破坏被认为是理解宇宙中物质和反物质之间不对称性的关键——这是我们存在的必要前提。该基金将支持包括首席研究员Frank Merritt教授、9名教职员工、3名高级研究员、9名博士后研究员、17名研究生和恩里科费米研究所的大部分技术人员。

This award is a continuation of a program of research in elementary particle physics at the University of Chicago which consists of three teams, each of which is playing a leading role in one of the premier experiments in particle physics on a world- wide scale: (1) the CDF experiment at the 1.8 Tev proton- antiproton collider at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois; (2) the OPAL experiment that is one of the four detectors at LEP, a large electron-positron collider at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, and (3) the KTEV experiment, which is being constructed for the new K meson beam in the fixed target program at Fermilab. The major goal of CDF is to find the top quark, the last and heaviest of the six components of hadronic matter in the Standard Model. Opal is investigating the Z , the neutral intermediate vector boson that, along with the photon, is central to the unification of the electromagnetic forces and the force governing nuclear beta decay. KTEV is the next step in a program that is attempting to understand the origin of CP symmetry violation which in turn is thought to be the key to understanding the asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the universe - a necessary prerequisite to our existence. The grant will support, including the Principal Investigator, Professor Frank Merritt, 9 faculty members, 3 senior researchers, 9 postdoctoral research associates, 17 graduate students and a majority of the technical staff at the Enrico Fermi Institute.