Beyond the Standard Model in the Electroweak Sector with Tau Leptons

该奖项将为欧洲核子研究中心(CERN)的大型强子对撞机(LHC)的ATLAS实验工作提供支持，CERN是瑞士日内瓦的一个粒子物理实验室。大型强子对撞机和大型粒子探测器ATLAS是利用美国国家科学基金会和世界各地其他机构的资金作为基础科学工具建造的。2012年在大型强子对撞机上发现了一个质量接近125GeV的希格斯玻色子，这既代表了粒子物理标准模型的最高成就，也是一个暗示--如果没有新的、未被发现的物理学，一个轻的希格斯玻色子如何可能在巨大的、不稳定的量子效应中生存下来？实验的下一步是寻找标准模型(BSM)以外的物理学证据，例如，可以解释神秘的“暗物质”的存在，这种物质构成了宇宙的如此大的质量。大型强子对撞机目前刚刚开始一个新的阶段，运行2，在更高的能量和更多的事件样本。BSM物理学的证据有可能在接下来的几年里出现。这一奖项将为探测新的BSM物理学提供工具，通过搜索希格斯衰变到重的牛轻子。只有通过衰变产物才能看到Taus，而这些腐烂产物本身很难检测到。PI将应用新的机器学习技术来提取这些希格斯衰变，这些衰变从碰撞的质子中有很大的动量转移。这类希格斯粒子对新的BSM粒子的贡献特别敏感。拟议的研究还有可能进一步提高ATLAS探测器探测τ轻子强子衰变的能力。这一奖项将在西雅图当地高中的外展活动中产生更广泛的影响。这一奖项反映了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 will provide support for work 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. The 2012 discovery, at the LHC, 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? 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 just starting a new phase, Run 2, at higher energy and increased event samples. It is possible that evidence for BSM physics could emerge in the next couple of years.This award will provide tools for detecting new BSM physics through searches for Higgs decaying to heavy tau leptons. Taus can only be seen through the decay products which themselves are difficult to detect. The PI will apply new machine learning techniques to extract these Higgs decays which have a large momentum transfer from the colliding protons. This class of Higgs is especially sensitive to contributions to new BSM particles. The proposed studies also have the potential to further improve the capabilities of the ATLAS detector to detect hadronic decays of the τ lepton. The broader impacts of this award will be in outreach activities in local Seattle high schools.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.