Research with the CMS Detector at the LHC

粒子物理学的重点是理解自然界最基本的组成部分和约束它们的规则。位于瑞士日内瓦附近的欧洲核子研究中心大型强子对撞机（LHC）是世界上最强大的粒子加速器，能够在实验室环境中达到最高的粒子能量。大型强子对撞机的CMS探测器是一台功能强大且精密的照相机，用于观察质子碰撞并记录副产物，供CMS实验人员进行详细研究。通过这个项目，圣母大学的高能物理小组将通过为下一次大型强子对撞机运行的数据分析、准备和操作以及为大型强子对撞机的高亮度升级做准备的早期数据分析和最终研发做出贡献，最大限度地发挥CMS实验的发现潜力。未来三年将是一个充满挑战的时期，因为CMS实验将在三个不同的方面向前推进：分析过去运行中收集的近150/fb的数据，准备并开始分析下一次运行的两倍数据，最后确定计划并开始建设高亮度LHC升级。圣母大学的活动包括CMS探测器的几个领域，包括电磁量热计、强子量热计、触发器、计算和离线软件。他们的物理分析计划利用了过去对希格斯和顶夸克物理的投资，同时也为直接或间接探索新物理建立了新的方向。圣母大学的研究小组将继续利用他们在热量测量方面的专业知识，对希格斯粒子进行几次分析，并寻找新的现象，包括希格斯粒子衰变为两个tau轻子，两个光子，或者一个μ子轻子和一个tau轻子。此外，他们将利用他们对CMS量热仪第一阶段升级的贡献，在下一次大型强子对撞机运行中提高性能。他们还将继续协调和管理端帽和桶形强子量热计的光学读出和解码。该小组还在高亮度LHC升级项目中发挥了领导作用，包括电磁和强子桶式量热计升级，端盖量热计升级，以及为CMS增加新的定时层探测器。该项目还包括对一级跟踪触发器升级的贡献，以及对高级触发器操作、离线和计算以及数据保存的持续贡献。该组织将通过QuarkNet和许多其他面向公众的倡议，广泛参与教育和推广活动。圣母院是QuarkNet的领导和管理机构，QuarkNet目前由25个州和波多黎各的52个中心组成，并已扩展到包括7个国内外实验室的11个不同的实验项目。他们的拓展工作包括开发和实施大型强子对撞机数据和宇宙射线数据的电子实验室（e-Labs），基于粒子物理学和天体物理学的大师班，以及参与支持本科生、高中教师和高中生暑期研究的项目。通过这些努力，他们继续开发和建立一套推广材料和示范项目，将粒子物理学在多个层面上带给公众，从课堂上对大型强子对撞机希格斯数据的真实物理分析到史密森尼博物馆的粒子探测器展示。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。

Particle physics focuses on understanding the most basic building blocks of Nature and the rules that bind them. The CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located near Geneva, Switzerland is the world's most powerful particle accelerator, able to reach the highest particle energies in a laboratory setting. The CMS detector at the LHC is a powerful and sophisticated camera, observing the collisions of protons and recording the byproducts for detailed study by CMS experimentalists. Through this project, the high energy physics group at Notre Dame University will maximize the discovery potential of the CMS experiment through contributions to data analysis, preparations and operations for the next LHC run as well as early data analysis and final R&D in preparation for the high luminosity upgrades of the LHC. The next three years will be a challenging period as the CMS experiment presses forward on three separate fronts: analyzing the nearly 150/fb of data collected during the past run, preparing for and then beginning to analyze twice as much data from the next run, and finalizing the plans and beginning the construction for the high luminosity LHC upgrades. Notre Dame activities include contributions across several areas of the CMS detector including the electromagnetic calorimeter, the hadronic calorimeter, trigger, computing, and offline software. Their physics analysis plans leverage past investments in Higgs and top quark physics, while also establishing new directions for directly and indirectly probing for new physics. The Notre Dame group will continue to leverage their expertise in calorimetry in several Higgs analyses and searches for new phenomena, including Higgs decays to two tau leptons, two photons, or a muon lepton and a tau lepton. Additionally, they will exploit their contributions to the Phase 1 upgrades of CMS calorimetry for improved performance during the next LHC run. They will also continue to coordinate and manage the optical readout and decoding for Endcap and Barrel Hadron Calorimetry. The group has also taken on leadership roles in high-luminosity LHC upgrade projects, including the electromagnetic and hadronic barrel calorimeter upgrades, the endcap calorimeter upgrade, and the addition of a new timing layer detector for CMS. This project also includes contributions to the Level 1 Track Trigger upgrade and continuing contributions to High Level Trigger operations, Offline and Computing, and Data Preservation. The group will engage broadly in Education and Outreach through QuarkNet and many other public-facing initiatives. Notre Dame is lead and the managing institution of QuarkNet, which currently consists of 52 Centers in 25 States and Puerto Rico and has been expanded to include eleven different experimental programs at seven national and foreign laboratories. Their outreach efforts include development and implementation of electronic laboratories (e-Labs) for LHC data and Cosmic Ray Data, Masterclasses based on particle physics and astrophysics, and participation in programs that support summer research for undergraduates, high school teachers and high school students. Through these efforts, they continue to develop and build upon a suite of outreach materials and demonstration projects that bring particle physics to the public on a number of levels, from real physics analysis on LHC Higgs data in the classroom to a particle detector display at the Smithsonian.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.