Research in Elementary Particle Theory

基本粒子论研究

• 批准号: 1620575
• 负责人: Pran Nath
• 金额: $ 68.4万
• 依托单位: Northeastern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-15 至 2020-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1620575&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Research; Elementary; Particle; Theory

This award funds the research activities of Professors Pran Nath, Brent D. Nelson, and Tomasz R. Taylor at Northeastern University. After nearly forty years of experimental searches, the Higgs boson (the particle that is responsible for giving mass to all the particles in the universe) has been discovered in experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). After the discovery of the Higgs boson, the LHC has been upgraded to twice its previous energy in order to search for new physics beyond the Higgs boson. It is known that our current understanding of particle physics (as encapsulated within the co-called Standard Model) is not the full story as it does not explain the existence of dark matter, does not explain why our universe has a huge excess of matter over anti-matter, and also does not explain the gravitational force. With support from this award, Professors Nath, Nelson, and Taylor will work to develop new theories that address those issues. Quite remarkably, this work will have direct experimental consequences which can be tested in future experiments at the LHC. Further, their work also has implications for cosmology, and some of their results can be tested in underground experiments looking for signals of dark matter and in satellite experiments searching for dark matter and anti-matter in the universe. Thus the research of these PI's will enhance our understanding of the basic components of the universe. This area of research advances the national interest in that it allows us to push the boundaries of science and test the laws of physics which have thus far not been tested at such large energies. The results arising from the supported research will be disseminated in a variety of ways: through posting on the archives, through publication in standard journals, through conference talks and workshops, and through more general outreach to the public. In addition there is a strong educational component to the award. The projects supported by the award will be used to train Ph.D. thesis students as well as to mentor undergraduate physics majors regarding developments in particle physics. The award will also allow the continuation of the highly successful TheoryNet outreach program, which brings theoretical physicists from New England universities into high-school physics classrooms from Rhode Island to New Hampshire, reaching an estimated 5,000 high-school students in the area.

该奖项为Pran Nath教授、布伦特D.纳尔逊和托马斯R.泰勒在东北大学。经过近40年的实验研究，希格斯玻色子（负责给宇宙中所有粒子质量的粒子）在大型强子对撞机（LHC）的实验中被发现。 在发现希格斯玻色子之后，LHC已经升级到以前的两倍能量，以寻找希格斯玻色子之外的新物理。 众所周知，我们目前对粒子物理学的理解（封装在所谓的标准模型中）并不是完整的故事，因为它不能解释暗物质的存在，不能解释为什么我们的宇宙有大量的物质超过反物质，也不能解释引力。 在该奖项的支持下，Nath、纳尔逊和Taylor教授将致力于开发解决这些问题的新理论。非常值得注意的是，这项工作将产生直接的实验结果，可以在LHC未来的实验中进行测试。 此外，他们的工作也对宇宙学有影响，他们的一些结果可以在寻找暗物质信号的地下实验和寻找宇宙中暗物质和反物质的卫星实验中进行测试。 因此，对这些PI的研究将增强我们对宇宙基本组成的理解。 这一研究领域推动了国家利益，因为它使我们能够推动科学的边界，并测试迄今为止尚未在如此大的能量下测试的物理定律。 将以各种方式传播所支助研究的结果：通过在档案中张贴、通过在标准期刊上发表、通过会议会谈和讲习班以及通过更广泛地向公众宣传。此外，该奖项还具有很强的教育意义。该奖项所支持的项目将用于培养博士。论文的学生，以及指导本科物理专业关于粒子物理学的发展。该奖项还将使非常成功的TheoryNet外展计划得以继续，该计划将新英格兰大学的理论物理学家带入从罗得岛到新罕布什尔州的高中物理教室，估计该地区有5，000名高中生。