Searches for New Phenomena with High Energy Particle Colliders

北伊利诺伊大学小组正在完成从费米实验室的D0实验到欧洲核子研究中心大型强子对撞机（LHC）的ATLAS实验的过渡，这是其核心项目。在ATLAS项目上，北伊利诺伊公司负责强子量热仪（ATLAS TileCal）的操作和电子升级，以及快速跟踪器（FTK）触发器的模拟和算法开发。随着大型强子对撞机亮度的增加，这些活动对ATLAS性能的提高至关重要。NIU物理分析项目侧重于顶夸克、矢量玻色子（W/Z）和直接光子产生的研究。他们还参与寻找希格斯玻色子衰变为tau轻子的过程，这可能是新的、超越标准模型现象的一个指标。北伊利诺伊小组继续非常活跃于探测器的发展，特别是在量热和μ子探测领域，并加入了费米实验室Mu2e实验，其目标之一是寻找μ子转化为电子，从而轻子数违反。拓展到K-12教师和公众是北伊利诺伊计划的一个组成部分。该小组于2001年在校园发起了物理推广活动，这个项目现在被并入了该校的STEM推广项目。而且，自2008年以来，该组织一直为QuarkNet保持着一个活跃的中心，让教师和学生参与动手实验。

The Northern Illinois University group is completing its transition from the D0 experiment at Fermilab to the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) as its core program. On ATLAS, Northern Illinois has operational responsibilities and electronics upgrades for hadron calorimetry (the ATLAS TileCal) and in simulation and algorithm development for the Fast TracKer (FTK) Trigger. These activities are central to the improved performance of ATLAS as the luminosity of the LHC increases. The NIU program of physics analysis focuses on studies of top quarks, vector bosons (W/Z), and direct photon production. They are also involved in the search for the decays of Higgs bosons into tau leptons, which could be an indicator of new, Beyond-the-Standard-Model phenomena.The Northern Illinois group continues to be very active in detector development, particularly in the domain of calorimetry and muon detection, and has joined the Fermilab Mu2e experiment, among whose objectives is the search for muon conversion into electrons and hence lepton number violation.Outreach to K-12 teachers and the general public is an integral part of the Northern Illinois program. The group initiated physics outreach on the campus in 2001, a program of effort that is now merged into the university's STEM outreach program. And, since 2008, the group has maintained an active center for QuarkNet, involving teachers and students in hands-on experimentation.