Experimental Flavor Physics

世纪的主要学术成就之一是粒子物理学标准模型（SM）的发展。该模型成功地将当时已知的所有基本粒子分类为具有相似量子特性的组的层次结构。到目前为止，这个模型的有效性得到了瑞士日内瓦附近欧洲核子研究中心实验室大型强子对撞机（LHC）发现希格斯玻色子的证实。然而，目前存在的标准模型留下了许多关于宇宙的问题。这些问题包括为什么在宇宙中物质比反物质占主导地位（CP破坏），物质的基本成分夸克和轻子的质量值，夸克之间混合的大小，以及轻子之间的混合，以及暗物质的性质。大多数解释都需要新的力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）的物理学。该奖项支持解决主导BSM物理学的那些问题的研究。这项研究将在LHC进行，LHC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问题的最重要设施之一。辛辛那提大学的研究小组是大型强子对撞机B的合作成员，该实验是专门设计来研究含有B或c夸克的强子在大型强子对撞机上的衰变。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。新的物理学或新的力可以通过尚未发现的粒子来表现，它们的存在将改变包含B和c夸克的强子的衰变率和CP破坏的不对称性，从而允许间接观察到新的现象。该奖项将使辛辛那提大学的研究小组能够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这种重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刚刚安装的新型全软件触发器。辛辛那提小组的重点将放在基于GPU的软件触发和魅力夸克物理学上，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理解宇宙基本物理学的一大步。辛辛那提集团有一个强大的同伴教育和推广计划，重点是其QuarkNet中心和大师班的行为。许多参加研究工作的学生通过这些项目和该组织参与大学的妇女科学与工程（WISE）项目，了解并参与科学的兴奋。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值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.