Particle Physics at the Energy Frontier with the CMS Experiment

这个研究项目旨在通过探索自然界的基本对称性及其与质量起源的关系，在最小尺度上更好地理解宇宙。2012年发现的质量接近125 GeV的希格斯玻色子，既代表了粒子物理学标准模型的最高成就，也暗示了这一点——如果没有新的、未被发现的物理学，轻希格斯玻色子怎么可能在巨大的、不稳定的量子效应中存活下来？此外，从天文观测中我们知道暗物质是存在的；然而，暗物质的粒子特性仍然是一个谜。堪萨斯大学（KU）小组的联合活动解决了一些困扰物理学的基本问题——质量的起源和暗物质的粒子性质——并有可能获得令人惊讶的发现，这些发现可能会改变我们理解物理世界的方式。该奖项将为KU小组在位于瑞士日内瓦的粒子物理实验室CERN的大型强子对撞机（LHC）上进行CMS实验提供支持。从分析的角度来看，这个小组对物理学有广泛的兴趣，包括寻找类矢量夸克和开始寻找超对称证据的新研究，重点是强调压缩光谱和“ewino”级联的特征。从技术上讲，KU将继续与CMS跟踪系统合作，既支持当前的操作，又为未来的高亮度HL-LHC时代开发新的组件。KU将设计、测试和建造电缆，将HL-LHC内部像素跟踪模块的高速电子信号传输到探测器上的光学链路，并评估整个电子读出链的性能。这种像素跟踪系统对于许多对发现科学的CMS项目特别感兴趣的事件类型的重建至关重要。该组织有两个主要的持续扩展工作：一个是长期存在的QuarkNet中心，通过它与地区高中物理教师和他们的学生接触，另一个是多媒体quark ！通过游戏、视频和其他网络内容向青少年展示现代物理概念的项目。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This program of research aims to better understand the Universe at the smallest scales by probing nature's basic symmetries and their relation to the origin of mass. The 2012 discovery of a Higgs boson with mass close to 125 GeV represents both the crowning achievement of the standard model of particle physics and a hint beyond it - how can a light Higgs boson possibly survive huge, destabilizing quantum effects without new, undiscovered physics? Further, dark matter is known to exist from astronomical observations; however, the particle properties of dark matter remain shrouded in mystery. The combined activities of the University of Kansas (KU) group address such basic questions puzzling physics - the origin of mass and the particle nature of dark matter - and have the potential for surprising discoveries that may change the way we understand our physical world. This award will provide support for the KU group's work on the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, a particle physics laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. Analytically, the group has a broad range of physics interests, including searches for vector-like quarks and the initiation into new searches for evidence of supersymmetry, with emphasis on signatures that emphasize compressed spectra and "ewino" cascades.Technically, KU will continue to work with the CMS tracker system, both to support the current operations and to develop new components for the future high luminosity HL-LHC era. KU will design, test and build cables that will bring the high-speed electronic signals from the HL-LHC inner pixel tracker modules to optical links on the detector and assess how the full chain of electronic readout performs. This pixel tracker system is critical to the reconstruction of many event types of special interest to the CMS program of discovery science. The group has two major continuing outreach efforts: a long-standing QuarkNet center, through which it engages with area high school physics teachers and their students, and the multimedia Quarked! project that presents modern physics concepts to youth through games, videos, and other web content.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.