US ATLAS Operations: Empowering US Universities for Discoveries at the Energy Frontier

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The U.S. ATLAS Operations Program aims to provide U.S. university scientists with access to the uniqueLHC science opportunities through a balanced program that encompasses: (1) the technical effortassociated with maintenance and operation of the U.S.-built detector subsystems, essential in achieving adetailed understanding of the detector for physics results; (2) the maintenance and refinement of software,computing and physics analysis support, critical in allowing scientists at U.S. universities to fully exploitthe physics potential of the LHC, in part through the establishment of university-based Tier 2 computingcenters in the U.S. and the expansion of the existing worldwide grid of resources; (3) an R&D programfor detector upgrades, to maximize the physics output during the long period of running expected for theLHC and maintain U.S. intellectual leadership in accelerator-based particle physics; and (4) a strongeducation and outreach program. The ATLAS collaboration, consisting of 151 institutes from 34countries, is completing construction of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) atCERN, and preparing for initial data taking in 2007. The 34 institutions of U.S. ATLAS, with the supportof NSF, have made major and unique contributions to the construction of the ATLAS detector, andcontinue to provide critical support for the ATLAS computing and software program, and pre-operationstasks as the detector is commissioned at CERN.Intellectual Merit: The goal of the U.S. ATLAS Operations Program is to empower U.S. physicists toaddress some of the most profound questions in particle physics today: what is the physical origin ofmass? Do supersymmetric particles exist and will they shed light on the nature of dark matter? Doesspace-time have extra spatial dimensions? Answers to these questions would provide a major advancetoward completing a unified view of the particles in nature, the forces with which particles interact, andtheir role in the past and future of our universe. This is a time when particle physics researchers haveunusually compelling indications that the step to be taken by the LHC, leading to collision energies farbeyond those available at existing facilities, will lead to especially important discoveries withimplications over a broad field of fundamental science. This program rests on the especially strongscientific case for investigating the energy regime that will be accessed by the LHC, and benefits from aprogram in which the international community is providing a major part of the investment. The boldinitiative of the NSF, in partnership with the DOE, to carry out a very significant portion of theconstruction and operations of the ATLAS detector has opened up this opportunity for U.S. scientists.Broader Impacts: This proposal will enhance the computing infrastructure for research, education andbeyond. The LHC computing requirements are driving a paradigm shift towards global computing withpotentially significant economic impacts, and our students will be at the forefront in using these newtechnologies. NSF-ATLAS groups continue to expand their education and outreach programs, with aparticular focus on high school teachers and students (closely coordinated with QuarkNet), and onoutreach to under-represented populations. We plan on strengthening and expanding our outreach effortsin the run-up to ATLAS data taking, including plans to help establish a computing center in Africa as partof our expanding network of worldwide grid facilities. This site will provide a platform on which tolaunch a program of Grid-based outreach in Africa. Starting in a few years the LHC will be the majoraccelerator-based program in which to train the next generation of physicists. Support for R&D activitieswill lay the groundwork for new technologies that might be adopted by other fields.