Studies in Elementary Particle Physics

这项提案要求为世界上能量最高的强子对撞机的实验粒子物理研究计划提供资金。约翰霍普金斯大学(JHU)小组将继续在费米实验室Tevatron的CDF实验和CERN大型强子对撞机(LHC)的CMS实验中进行合作。CDF目前处于数据采集阶段，预计将运行数年。预计CMS将于2008年开始运营。该计划的具体科学目标是确定电弱自发对称性破缺的来源，并进行精确的重夸克测量，以约束超出标准模型的物理。最初的计划集中在Tevatron，那里的短期目标是研究重夸克物理，因为许多自发对称性破缺的理论机制包括优先衰变为重夸克或其他长寿命状态的态。目前最被接受的理论观点认为，对称性自发破缺的机制应该在大型强子对撞机上显现出来。JHU小组对这两个实验的硅基顶点跟踪做出了贡献。这项技术将允许通过搜索从主顶点移位的次顶点来识别长期状态。所提出的硅像素探测器技术的工作已应用于同步辐射光源研究材料和生物系统的仪器。此外，该像素模拟代码可能适用于用于星载望远镜的红外像素传感器。关于分布式数据库的拟议工作与几个大型天文学项目正在进行的工作有很大重叠，还可能在社会各部门产生深远的应用。拟议的研究将为一些研究生和本科生提供直接支持和培训。JHU主办了一个QuarkNet中心，该组织计划开发一个用户友好的网络界面，允许高中生向开放科学网格提交粒子物理查询。QuarkNet教师将帮助设计和调试该系统，长期目标是向公众提供该系统。

This proposal requests funds for a program of experimental particle physics research at the world's highest energy hadron colliders. The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) group would continue their collaboration in the CDF experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron and the CMS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). CDF is currently in a data-taking phase and is expected to run for a number of years. CMS is expected to begin operation in 2008. The specific scientific goals of the proposed program are to determine the source of electroweak spontaneous symmetry breaking and to make precise heavy quark measurements that constrain physics beyond the Standard Model. The initial program is concentrated at the Tevatron, where the short-term goal is to study heavy quark physics, since many theoretical mechanisms of spontaneous symmetry breaking include states that preferentially decay into heavy quarks or other long-lived states. The most accepted theoretical ideas currently suggest that mechanisms of spontaneous symmetry breaking should manifest themselves at the LHC. The JHU group contributes to the silicon-based vertex tracking of both experiments. This technology will permit the identification of long-lived states by searching for secondary vertices displaced from the primary vertex. The proposed work on silicon pixel detector technology has application to instrumentation used at synchrotron light sources to study materials and biological systems. In addition, the pixel simulation code may be applicable to infrared pixel sensors used in satellite-borne telescopes. The proposed work on distributed databases has strong overlap with work being done for several large astronomy projects and could also have far-reaching application in all sectors of society. The proposed research would provide direct support and training for a number of graduate and undergraduate students. JHU hosts a QuarkNet center and the group plans to work on a user-friendly web interface that will permit high school students to submit particle physics queries to the Open Science Grid. QuarkNet teachers will help in the design and debugging of the system with the longer-term goal of making the system available to the general public.