Experimental Physics Research Program at Columbia University/Nevis Laboratories

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Overview: The principal goal of experiments in modern particle physics is to uncover new physics that underlies the Standard Model. Possible approaches include the study of physics processes at the highest available collision energies at accelerators or through studies of the very rare interactions of neutrinos. The Columbia Particle Physics group tackles both directions. Intellectual Merit of physics at the highest available collision energies: A goal of experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (the LHC) at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland is to understand the nature of the Higgs Boson, recently discovered there in 2012, and to discover new physics beyond the Standard Model. These goals are relevant to the understanding of the Universe at its most fundamental level in the fleeting fraction of a second just after the Big Bang, and to why we see the Universe as we do now. To meet the challenges of this quest, new theories are advanced, new detectors and accelerators are developed and built, and new computing and analytical methodologies are created, all of which have significant broader impact for the training of young scientists in the near term and the advancement of technological benefits to society over the longer term. The next three years represent a transition of the LHC physics program from a collision energy of 8 TeV data-taking and operation, to extended operations and data taking at nearly double the energy, 13-14 TeV. Over a thousand scientists from the United States are involved with this scientific program on several major experiments.The Columbia team is one of the leading groups participating in the ATLAS experiment at CERN. Their contributions include extensive involvement in the scientific and technical management of the experiment, substantial contributions to the maintenance and operations and upgrades of the key detectors for energy measurement, the Liquid Argon Calorimetry. In the search for new physics, the group is deeply involved in QCD (jet) studies including boosted jet technology, Standard Model and Beyond the Standard Model studies of events with pairs of vector bosons (WW, ZZ and WZ) in the final state to search for new resonant states, gravitons and supersymmetry. Intellectual Merit of Neutrino Physics: Another major question is what happened to all the antimatter in the universe? Fundamental symmetry arguments suggest that matter and antimatter should have been produced in equal abundance in the early universe, but now all we see is matter. A key to unraveling this mystery may lie with elusive particles called neutrinos, which are abundant in the universe, but which barely interact with matter. There are three of these particles known. Why three? And what are the masses of these particles? Are there more? Experiments are underway to understand these phenomena and to see if more than three neutrinos exist.The Columbia group is completing is contributions to an earlier reactor-based neutrino experiment called Double CHOOZ and is now heavily involved in a new experiment named MicroBOONE, which is coming online at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois. This program will address several of the key questions in neutrino physics including the search of additional neutrinos as well as advance an important new technology for the field, the Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber. The Columbia group has major responsibilities for the readout electronics of the Time Projection Chamber and triggering system, detector simulation, data acquisition software, and physics analysis.Broader Impacts: A principal focus of the Columbia group over many years and strengthened with this award is the training of undergraduate students through their highly successful Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) summer program. This program has demonstrated a commitment to the inclusion of under-represented groups, including many students from undergraduate-only institutions. Follow-up tracking has shown an impressive rate of success for graduates of their programs to pursue advanced degrees in STEM fields.