Experimental Physics Research Program at Columbia University/Nevis Laboratories

该奖项包括哥伦比亚大学正在进行的几个主要项目中的活动：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)和深地中微子实验(DUNE)计划。粒子物理学考虑了从亚原子到宇宙尺度的广泛问题。目前的粒子物理标准模型(SM)被认为只是一种近似理论，而超越SM的新物理学是在理解基本理论方面取得进展的关键。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，或者通过精确的测量来寻找与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做到这一点。该集团在利用人工智能和机器学习计算技术和仪器开发改进的数据分析方面也走在了前列。哥伦比亚大学有非常强大的教育和外展计划，涵盖从高中(甚至更年轻)到研究生/研究生的学生，包括自2001年开始实施的本科生暑期REU计划。该小组还维持着一个非常受欢迎的每月公开讲座系列，名为科学-on-Hudson，向普通和不同的听众介绍物理学家所做的科学以及如何做到这一点。这个奖项将集中在两个领域：能量前沿的对撞机物理学，以及CERN大型强子对撞机(LHC)的ATLAS实验，以及中微子物理学，既探测中微子的性质，又通过协同的短基线和长基线中微子实验使用中微子作为探测器。对于所有这些项目，高技能的教职员工、博士后和学生群体允许哥伦比亚大学团队在物理分析和仪器方面发挥重要作用。该团队承担重大实验项目的能力得益于哥伦比亚大学尼维斯实验室的设施，包括世界著名的电子商店、大型高湾区和大量的计算资源。例如，该集团领导了ATLAS液氮(LAR)量热计读数的开发，现在领导其升级，并继续为LAR业务做出领先贡献。对于中微子计划，该小组领导了MicroBooNE和SBND实验的读出电子学和触发器的开发和生产，包括也将应用于未来沙丘实验的方法和仪器。提出的研究计划的一些主要物理目标包括：超对称性搜索、暗能量和额外的时空维度探索、探索希格斯玻色子的基本性质、解决与中微子种类和中微子与反中微子之间的基本对称性有关的悬而未决的问题、回答中微子是否具有使其在其他粒子中占有特殊地位的意想不到的性质，以及通过直接暗物质搜索或将中微子用作通往这一新领域的门户来寻找可能的“暗部门”物理学。这一奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定任务，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。

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.