Experimental Physics Research Program at Columbia University/Nevis Laboratories

该奖项涵盖了哥伦比亚大学在几个正在进行的主要计划中的活动：欧洲核子研究中心实验室的ATLAS和ATLAS HL-LHC升级，以及费米实验室的短基线中微子（SBN）和深层地下中微子实验（DUNE）计划。粒子物理学考虑的问题范围很广，从亚原子到宇宙尺度。目前的粒子物理学标准模型（SM）被认为只是一个近似的理论，超越SM的新物理学是理解基础理论取得进展的关键。为了发现是否有新的对称性或物理定律尚未被发现，人们必须寻找新的粒子或相互作用，或者通过精确测量寻找与SM的偏差。哥伦比亚计划正准备通过帮助开发和运行具有更好测量和数据收集能力的新探测器来实现这一目标。该集团还处于使用人工智能和机器学习计算技术和仪器开发改进数据分析的最前沿。 哥伦比亚集团有非常强大的教育和推广计划，涵盖从高中（甚至更年轻）到研究生/研究生院的学生，包括自2001年以来一直在运作的本科生暑期REU计划。该小组还保持着一个非常受欢迎的每月公开讲座系列，称为科学哈德逊，介绍了科学，物理学家做，以及如何做给一般和不同的观众。这个奖项将集中在两个领域的工作：对撞机物理学在能源前沿，与ATLAS实验在欧洲核子研究中心大型强子对撞机（LHC），和中微子物理都探测中微子属性和使用中微子作为探针，通过协同短和长基线中微子实验。对于所有这些项目，高技能的教师，博士后和学生组允许哥伦比亚集团承担在物理分析，以及在仪器仪表的主要作用。该小组承担重大实验项目的能力是由哥伦比亚大学尼维斯实验室的设施，包括世界知名的电子商店，大型高海湾地区和重要的计算资源。例如，该小组领导了ATLAS液氩（LAr）量热计读数的开发，现在领导其升级，并继续为LAr操作做出领先贡献。对于中微子计划，该小组领导了MicroBooNE和SBND实验的读出电子和触发器的开发和生产，包括也被应用于未来DUNE实验的方法和仪器。拟议研究计划的一些主要物理目标包括：超对称搜索，暗能量和额外的时空维度探索，探测希格斯玻色子的基本属性，解决与中微子物种数量和中微子与反中微子之间基本对称性有关的未回答的问题，回答中微子是否具有意想不到的属性，使它们在其他粒子中占有特殊地位，通过直接暗物质搜索或使用中微子作为通往这一新领域的门户来寻找可能的“暗区”物理。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 covers the Columbia University activities in several major ongoing programs: ATLAS and the ATLAS HL-LHC upgrade at the CERN Laboratory, and the Short Baseline Neutrino (SBN) and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) programs at Fermilab. Particle physics considers a vast range of questions, from subatomic to cosmic scales. The current Standard Model (SM) of particle physics is believed to be only an approximate theory, and new physics beyond the SM holds the key to making progress in understanding the underlying theory. To discover if there are new symmetries or physical laws yet to be uncovered, one must search for new particles or interactions, or look for deviations from the SM through precision measurements. The Columbia program is preparing to do this by helping to develop and run new detectors that have better measurement and data collection capability. The group is also at the forefront in developing improved data analysis using artificial intelligence and machine learning computing techniques and instrumentation. The Columbia group has very strong education and outreach programs that cover students from high school (and even younger) through graduate/post-graduate school, including a summer REU program for undergraduates that has been operating since 2001. The group also maintains a very popular monthly public lecture series, called Science-on-Hudson, that presents the science that physicists do and how it is done to a general and diverse audience.This award will concentrate work in two areas: collider physics at the energy frontier, with the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and neutrino physics both probing neutrino properties and using neutrinos as probes through synergistic short- and long-baseline neutrino experiments. For all of these programs, the highly skilled group of faculty, postdocs, and students allows the Columbia group to take on major roles in physics analysis, as well as in instrumentation. The group’s ability to take on major experimental projects is made possible by the facilities at Columbia University’s Nevis Laboratories, including a world-renowned electronics shop, large high-bay areas, and significant computing resources. As examples, the group led the development of the ATLAS liquid argon (LAr) calorimeter readout, now leads its upgrade, and continues to make leading contributions to LAr operations. For the neutrino program, the group has led the development and production of the readout electronics and trigger for the MicroBooNE and SBND experiments, including methods and instrumentation which are also being applied to the future DUNE experiment. Some of the main physics goals of the proposed research program include: supersymmetry searches, dark energy and extra spacetime dimension explorations, probing the fundamental properties of the Higgs boson, addressing unanswered questions related to the number of neutrino species and fundamental symmetries between neutrinos and antineutrinos, answering if neutrinos have unexpected properties that give them a special place among other particles, and hunting for possible “dark sector” physics through direct dark matter searches or using neutrinos as a gateway to this new sector.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.