Experimental Studies Into The Nature of The Higgs Mechanism and Searches for New Physics with the ATLAS Experiment

该奖项将为在欧洲核子研究中心（位于瑞士日内瓦的粒子物理实验室）的大型强子对撞机（LHC）进行ATLAS实验的单个PI小组提供支持。大型强子对撞机和大型粒子探测器阿特拉斯（ATLAS）是利用美国国家科学基金会（NSF）和世界各地其他机构的资金建造的基础科学工具。他们的主要目标之一是找到希格斯玻色子，这是历史上成功的“标准模型”（SM）中的最后一个粒子，该模型在很大程度上解释了宇宙中形成物质的已知粒子的存在以及它们之间的作用力。这一努力取得了成功。实验的下一步是寻找超越标准模型（BSM）的物理证据，例如，这些证据可能解释构成宇宙大部分质量的神秘“暗物质”的存在。大型强子对撞机目前正在分析运行2的数据，其能量几乎是之前探测的两倍，事件样本也显著增加。有可能在更高的能量和更高的事件统计中出现BSM物理的证据。寻找这种物理现象的证据是该项目的目标，同时也为2021年底开始的下一个数据采集期做准备。加州州立大学东湾高能物理小组将使用ATLAS实验收集的数据来探测基本粒子通过电弱对称破缺（EWSB）获得质量的机制，并寻找新物理学的证据。该小组将寻找成对的希格斯玻色子和其他衰变为成对的b-夸克和成对的tau轻子的外来粒子。随着大型强子对撞机的质心能量增加到13 TeV，加速器的亮度稳步增加，对这种罕见事件的研究变得更加可行。与此同时，ATLAS探测器的升级正在进行中，这将进一步改进数据记录。加州州立大学东湾小组将专注于粒子轨迹的重建及其与主要碰撞顶点的关联，这对于识别和测量复杂粒子相互作用中的b-夸克和tau轻子很重要。计划与SLAC国家加速器实验室的ATLAS小组合作，对ATLAS跟踪探测器进行升级。这将包括在大型强子对撞机中使用的靠近强光束线的像素探测器的辐射损伤研究。这项研究计划将为加州州立大学东湾分校带来高能物理的兴奋和研究，这是公认的拥有全国最多样化本科生招生的大学之一。该小组的学生将在小组的校园实验室、SLAC和CERN参与协作科学、数据分析和仪器测试。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 award will provide support to a single PI group working on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, a particle physics laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. The LHC machine and ATLAS, a large particle detector facility, were built as basic science tools using funds from NSF and other agencies around the world. One of their primary objectives was to find the Higgs Boson, the last particle in the historically successful "Standard Model" (SM) that accounts for so much of the existence of, and forces between, known particles forming the matter in the universe. This effort has been successful. The next step in the experiments is to look for evidence for physics Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) that might, for instance, account for the presence of the mysterious "Dark Matter" that makes up so much of the mass of the universe. The LHC is currently in the midst of analyzing data from Run 2, at almost twice the energy explored earlier and with significantly increased event samples. It is possible that evidence for BSM physics could emerge at this higher energy and with the higher event statistics. Search for evidence of such physics is the goal of this project along with preparation for the next data taking period starting in late 2021.The California State University East Bay high energy physics group will use data collected by the ATLAS experiment to probe the mechanism by which fundamental particles acquire mass through electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) and to search for evidence of new physics. The group will search for pairs of Higgs bosons and other exotic particles decaying to pairs of b-quarks and pairs of tau leptons. Study of such rare events has become more viable as the center-of-mass energy of the LHC is increased to 13 TeV and the luminosity of the accelerator facility is steadily increased. In parallel, upgrades of the ATLAS detector are underway which will allow for further improvements in data recording. The Cal State East Bay group will focus on reconstruction of particle tracks and their association with primary collision vertices, important for the identification and measurement of the b-quarks and tau leptons in complex particle interactions. Collaboration is planned with the ATLAS group at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to work on the upgrade of the ATLAS tracking detector. This will include studies of radiation damage to pixel detectors used close to the intense beam line at the LHCThis research program will bring the excitement and study of high energy physics to Cal State East Bay, which is recognized as a university with one of the most diverse undergraduate student enrollments in the country. Students in the group will participate in collaborative science, data analysis, and in instrumentation testing at the group's campus laboratories and at SLAC and CERN.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.