Beyond the Standard Model Physics

该奖项将为在瑞士日内瓦粒子物理实验室CERN的大型强子对撞机（LHC）上进行ATLAS实验的一个小组提供支持。大型强子对撞机和大型粒子探测器设施ATLAS是利用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）中的最后一种粒子，该模型解释了宇宙中形成物质的已知粒子的存在及其之间的作用力。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）的物理学证据，例如，可以解释构成宇宙质量的神秘“暗物质”的存在。LHC目前正处于运行3的开始阶段，事件样本显著增加。BSM物理学的证据可能会在更高的能量和更高的事件统计中出现。来自华盛顿大学的研究人员正在通过三种主要方法寻找新的BSM物理学。第一个是通过研究希格斯玻色子的成对产生，每个玻色子衰变为b夸克。这项工作强调专门的分析技术，以确定b-夸克衰变和背景估计。第二种方法将寻找衰变为b夸克的暗希格斯粒子。第三种方法是寻找在远离LHC相互作用点的ATLAS探测器体积中衰变的中性长寿命粒子，高能束在那里碰撞。这次搜索使用了该小组开发的自定义触发器来选择从碰撞点移位的衰变，并将搜索长寿命的中性希格斯玻色子以及广泛的其他BSM现象。该小组还对ATLAS探测器的升级和软件开发作出了重大贡献，以便利分析预计将在今后十年内由该实验记录的非常大的数据集。该组织通过公开传播ATLAS的结果，支持一个更广泛的影响计划，重点是培训来自代表性不足群体的学生。该组织还将继续其长期活跃的QuarkNet计划，为当地高中学生和教师提供大师班。该奖项反映了NSF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 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 onset of Run 3 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. The investigators from the University of Washington are searching for the new BSM physics through three main approaches. The first is through the study of pair production of Higgs Bosons, with each Boson decaying into b-quarks. This work emphasizes specialized analytical techniques for identifying b-quark decays and for background estimation. The second approach will search for dark Higgs production decaying to b-quarks. The third approach is a search for neutral long-lived particles that decay in the ATLAS detector volume far from the LHC interaction point, where the high-energy beams collide. This search uses custom triggers developed by the group to select decays displaced from the collision point and will search for long-lived neutral Higgs bosons as well as a broad range of other BSM phenomena. The group is also making significant contributions to the upgrade of the ATLAS detector as well as software developments to facilitate the analysis of the very large data sets expected to be recorded by the experiment in the next decade. The group supports a broader impact program through public dissemination of the results from ATLAS, with emphasis on training students from underrepresented groups. The group also will continue its long-active QuarkNet program by providing Masterclasses to local high-school students and teachers.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.