Physics at the Large Hadron Collider: Understanding Fundamental Interactions and Upgrading the CMS Experiment

该研究计划旨在通过探索自然界的基本对称性及其与质量起源的关系，更好地了解最小尺度下的宇宙。2012年希格斯玻色子的发现既是粒子物理学标准模型的最高成就，也是一个超越它的暗示--如果没有新的、未被发现的物理学，轻希格斯玻色子怎么可能在巨大的、不稳定的量子效应中生存下来？此外，暗物质是已知存在的天文观测;然而，暗物质的粒子性质仍然笼罩在神秘之中。内布拉斯加大学林肯分校（UNL）小组的联合活动解决了困扰科学的基本问题-质量的起源和暗物质的粒子性质-并有可能改变我们理解物理世界的方式的惊人发现。该奖项将为UNL小组在位于瑞士日内瓦的粒子物理实验室CERN的大型强子对撞机（LHC）上进行的CMS实验工作提供支持。该小组有广泛的物理学兴趣，正在进行和计划测量希格斯物理，顶级生产和衰变，电弱物理，加上寻找新的现象。该小组领导软件和计算方面的实验，UNL为CMS运营着一个二级计算中心。从技术上讲，UNL小组正在为CMS实验的升级做出重大贡献，以便在未来十年在LHC预见的非常高速率的碰撞环境中运行。他们努力的核心是CMS内部跟踪器的前向像素检测器的部分结构。该探测器系统对于CMS发现科学计划特别感兴趣的许多事件类型的重建至关重要。UNL小组领导着独特的宇宙线观测项目（CROP）外展计划。内布拉斯加州的高中宇宙射线研究小组利用学生建造和操作的探测器研究了广泛的空气簇射，未来的扩展将集中在服务不足的农村人口。正在进行的CROP计划已经成为美国各地类似高中宇宙射线工作的典范，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 program of research aims to better understand the Universe at the smallest scales by probing nature's basic symmetries and their relation to the origin of mass. The 2012 discovery of a Higgs boson serves as 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? Further, dark matter is known to exist from astronomical observations; however, the particle properties of dark matter remain shrouded in mystery. The combined activities of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL) group address such basic questions puzzling science - the origin of mass and the particle nature of dark matter - and have the potential for surprising discoveries that may change the way we understand our physical world. This award will provide support for the UNL group's work on the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, a particle physics laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. The group has a broad range of physics interests, with ongoing and planned measurements of Higgs physics, top production and decay, electroweak physics, plus searches for new phenomena. The group provides leadership to the experiment in software and computing, and UNL operates a Tier-2 computing center for CMS. Technically, the UNL group is contributing significantly to the upgrades of the CMS experiment for its operation in the very high-rate collision environments foreseen in the next decade at the LHC. Central to their efforts is the construction of parts of the Forward Pixel Detector of the CMS Inner Tracker. This detector system is critical to the reconstruction of many event types of special interest to the CMS program of discovery science. The UNL group leads the distinctive Cosmic Ray Observatory Project (CROP) outreach program. High school-based cosmic-ray research teams around Nebraska study extensive air showers with student- built and operated detectors, and future expansion will focus on under-served rural populations. The ongoing CROP initiative has served as a model for similar high-school cosmic-ray efforts across the U.S., Canada, and abroad.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.