Experimental Flavor Physics

20世纪的主要智力成就之一是粒子物理标准模型(SM)的发展。这个模型成功地将当时已知的所有基本粒子归入具有相似量子性质的群组的层次结构中。在瑞士日内瓦附近的欧洲核子研究中心(CERN)的大型强子对撞机(LHC)上发现的希格斯玻色子证实了这个模型到目前为止的有效性。然而，目前存在的标准模型留下了许多关于宇宙的问题。这些包括为什么宇宙中物质支配反物质(CP破坏)，物质的基本成分，夸克和轻子的质量值，夸克之间和轻子之间的混合的大小，以及暗物质的性质。大多数解释都需要新力量的存在和概念的发展，这些概念现在构成了我们所说的超越标准模型(BSM)的物理。该奖项支持解决那些主导BSM物理学的问题的研究。这项研究将在大型强子对撞机上进行，这是世界上首屈一指的高能物理粒子加速器，也是回答这些BSM问题的最重要的设施之一。辛辛那提大学的小组是LHCb的合作成员，LHCb是专门为研究大型强子对撞机上含有b或c夸克的强子衰变而设计的实验。LHCb的一个目标是通过检查包含这些夸克的强子的性质来识别自然界中的新物理。新的物理或新的力可以通过尚未发现的粒子来表现，粒子的存在将改变衰减率和CP破坏包含b和c夸克的强子的不对称性，从而允许间接观察到新的现象。这项奖励将允许辛辛那提大学的小组利用大型强子对撞机即将产生的更大的数据集，进一步研究如此重的夸克系统的罕见衰变。该小组将帮助改进LHCb在刚刚结束的长时间关闭中安装的新颖的全软件触发器。辛辛那提小组的重点将是基于GPU的软件触发器和魅力夸克物理，该小组在这方面已经建立了专业知识。BSM物理学的任何发现都将是我们在理解宇宙基本物理学方面向前迈出的一大步。辛辛那提集团有一个强大的同伴教育和外展计划，重点放在其QuarkNet中心及其大师班的举办上。许多参与研究工作的学生通过这些项目和该组织参与大学科学与工程女性(WISE)项目，被介绍到科学并参与到科学的兴奋中。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。

One of the major intellectual achievements of the 20th century was the development of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. This model succeeded in classifying all of the elementary particles known at the time into a hierarchy of groups having similar quantum properties. The validity of this model to date was confirmed by the discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. However, the Standard Model as it currently exists, leaves open many questions about the universe. These include why matter dominates over anti-matter in the Universe (CP violation), the values of the masses of the fundamental constituents of matter, the quarks and the leptons, the size of the mixings among the quarks, and separately among the leptons, and the properties of dark matter. Most explanations require the presence of new forces and the development of concepts that now constitute what we call physics Beyond the Standard Model (BSM). This award supports research that addresses those questions that dominate BSM physics. The research will be carried out at the LHC, which is the premier High Energy Physics particle accelerator in the world and one of the foremost facilities for answering these BSM questions. The University of Cincinnati group is a collaboration member of LHCb, an experiment designed specifically to study the decays of hadrons containing b or c quarks at the LHC. A goal of LHCb is to identify new physics in nature by examining the properties of hadrons containing these quarks. New physics, or new forces, can be manifest by particles as yet to be discovered, whose presence would modify decay rates and CP violating asymmetries of the hadrons containing the b and c quarks, and thus allow new phenomena to be observed indirectly. This award will allow the University of Cincinnati group to further its study of rare decays of such heavy quark systems using the larger data set now about to be produced at the LHC. The group will help improve the novel all-software trigger that LHCb has just installed in the just ended long shutdown. The Cincinnati group's emphasis will be on GPU-based software trigger and charm quark physics, in which the group has established expertise. Any discovery of BSM physics would be a huge step forward in our understanding of the fundamental physics of the universe. The Cincinnati group has a strong companion education and outreach program focused on its QuarkNet Center and its conduct of Masterclasses. Many students who join the research effort are introduced to and engage in the excitement of the science through these programs and through the group's participation in the University's Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program.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.