Lattice QCD and Higgs Models

该奖项资助了太平洋大学詹姆斯·赫特里克和基兰·霍兰德教授的研究活动。标准模型(SM)是指我们目前对物质是什么以及它在目前可以通过实验探索的最基本水平上的行为的理解。这个理论框架描述了不同类型的夸克、电子和中微子之间的作用力，这些基本实体是该模型的核心，并进一步预测了一种相当神秘的希格斯粒子，它弥漫在宇宙中，对SM的深刻错综复杂负责。这个希格斯粒子于2012年在大型强子对撞机上被观测到，为更深层次地理解SM打开了大门。Hetrick和Holland教授的研究使用超级计算机模型来探索不同的情景来解释希格斯粒子的起源，从而推动我们对物质的理解超越SM。这项工作符合国家利益，因为它进一步促进了美国基础科学的发展，并为本科生的科学建模开发了高性能计算方面的专业知识。赫特里克和霍兰德教授在一个以本科生为主的机构工作，他们将让本科生参与他们的研究，从而使他们在职业生涯的早期就接触到先进的研究方法。这项研究计划还涉及为该领域的研究人员创建和维护一个大规模的公开可用的数据档案，从而利用美国其他组织的工作，扩大他们的研究影响。赫特里克教授和霍兰德教授还将继续进行公开讲座，并参与其他社区推广工作，以增进公众对粒子物理的了解。从技术上讲，这笔拨款支持的活动涉及理论粒子物理模型，这些模型可以动态解释希格斯玻色子的性质和弱电对称破缺的根本原因。其中一个模型涉及四维强相互作用规范理论，类似于夸克和胶子的量子色动力学理论。在这个场景中，希格斯玻色子以复合标量态的形式出现，基本理论通过希格斯动力学和丰富的附加复合态光谱来揭示自己。在这个研究项目中探索的另一个模型涉及规范群的伴随表示中含有费米子的五维规范理论。第五维与周期费米子边界条件的紧致导致了希格斯态的出现。在这两个模型中，在中大规模计算机集群上使用蒙特卡罗技术的格子模拟是探索此类理论的最先进工具。这些活动的另一个方面是继续开发“The Gauge Connection”，这是一个大数据档案，旨在共享由全美各地的研究机构产生的大量有价值和昂贵的数据。这些数据集可以为新项目重新调整用途，成本大大降低。这是一项重要的活动，使粒子物理界的许多研究人员受益。Hetrick和Holland教授还将继续指导将发展重要技术和分析技能的本科生。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award funds the research activities of Professors James Hetrick and Kieran Holland at the University of the Pacific.The Standard Model (SM) is the name given to our current understanding of what matter is and how it behaves at the most fundamental level that can currently be probed by experiments. This theoretical framework describes the forces between different types of quarks, electrons, and neutrinos, fundamental entities that are at the heart of the model, and further predicts a rather mysterious Higgs particle that pervades the universe and is responsible for profound intricacies of the SM. This Higgs particle was observed at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012, opening the door to understanding the SM at a deeper level. The research of Professors Hetrick and Holland uses supercomputer modeling to explore different scenarios to explain the origin of Higgs particle and thereby advance our understanding of matter beyond the SM. This work is in the national interest because it furthers the development of fundamental science in the United States and develops expertise in high-performance computing for scientific modeling in undergraduate students. Working at a predominantly undergraduate institution, Professors Hetrick and Holland will involve undergraduates in their research, thereby exposing them to advanced research methods very early in their careers. This research program also involves the creation and maintainence of a large-scale publicly available data archive for researchers in this field, thereby leveraging the work of other groups in the US and multiplying the impact of their research. Professors Hetrick and Holland will also continue to deliver public lectures and engage in other community outreach efforts to enhance the public's understanding of particle physics. More technically, the activities supported by this grant involve theoretical particle physics models that could dynamically explain the properties of the Higgs boson and the underlying cause of electroweak symmetry breaking. One such model involves four-dimensional strongly-interacting gauge theories, similar to the theory of Quantum Chromodynamics of quarks and gluons. In this scenario, the Higgs boson emerges as a composite scalar state, and the fundamental theory reveals itself through Higgs dynamics and a rich spectrum of additional composite states. Another model explored in this research program involves five-dimensional gauge theory with fermions in the adjoint representation of the gauge group. The compactification of the fifth dimension with periodic fermion boundary conditions leads to an emergent Higgs state. In both models, lattice simulations using Monte-Carlo techniques on medium- to large-scale computer clusters are the state-of-the-art tools to probe such theories. An additional aspect of these activities is the continuing development of "The Gauge Connection", a big data archive developed to share large ensembles of valuable and costly data produced by research groups across the US. These data sets can be repurposed for new projects with much reduced cost. This is an important activity which benefits many researchers in the particle-physics community. Professors Hetrick and Holland will also continue to mentor undergraduate students who will develop important technical and analytical skills.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.