Global QCD Analysis and Precision Electroweak Physics in High Energy Collier Phenomenology

该奖项资助C教授的研究活动。密歇根州立大学的P. Yuan。基本粒子物理学解决了这样一个问题：“物质是由什么组成的？”“在最基本的层面上-也就是说，在最小的尺度上。 我们目前的理解是，质子和中子以及所有其他强相互作用粒子都是由称为部分子（夸克和胶子）的基本粒子组成的。部分子之间的强相互作用由量子色动力学（QCD）理论描述。 作为该研究项目的一部分，袁教授旨在开发从QCD理论中提取信息的理论方法，这对于解释世界各地的实验数据至关重要，包括最近在CERN大型强子对撞机（LHC）的实验。因此，这一领域的研究通过促进科学在其最基本的方向之一的进步来促进国家利益：发现和理解新的物理定律。 预计该项目还将产生更广泛的重大影响。 袁教授将邀请博士后参与他的研究，从而为开始这一领域研究的初级物理学家提供关键的培训。此外，袁教授还计划就他们的研究成果进行公开讲座，并根据他们的研究成果开发新的课程。更技术性的是，袁教授将从实验数据的全球分析中提取最新的CTEQ-TEA部分子分布函数（PDF）。(CTEQ是“QCD的协调理论实验项目”的首字母缩写，TEA是“Tung et al”的缩写。他将扩展分析的理论能力，包括高阶QCD相互作用，重夸克质量效应，次领先阶量子电动力学（QED）相互作用和横向动量修正。他还将改进用于分析PDF不确定性和各种物理观测量预测之间的相关性的技术，并研究PDF及其相关不确定性对对撞机最重要的物理过程的影响，特别是在LHC。 测量W，Z，顶夸克对，单顶夸克和希格斯玻色子生产在大型强子对撞机，包括包容率和各种运动学分布，将提供主要的新输入的PDF的确定在未来几年。与此同时，PDF的改进对于以更高的精度测试标准模型和探测高能对撞机上的新物理效应都至关重要。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 funds the research activities of Professor C.-P. Yuan at Michigan State University. Elementary particle physics addresses the question "What is matter made of?" on the most fundamental level --– which is to say, on the smallest length scales. Our current understanding is that protons and neutrons, and all other strongly interacting particles, are composed of fundamental particles called partons (quarks and gluons). The strong interactions between the partons are described by the theory of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). As part of this research project, Professor Yuan aims to develop theoretical methods to extract information from the QCD theory which are critical for interpreting experimental data around the world, including recent experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). As a result, research in this area advances the national interest by promoting the progress of science in one of its most fundamental directions: the discovery and understanding of new physical law. This project is also envisioned to have significant broader impacts. Professor Yuan will involve postdocs in his research, and thereby provide critical training for junior physicists beginning research in this field. He also intends to give public lectures on their research results and develop new course curricula based on the results of their research.More technically, Professor Yuan will extract the most updated CTEQ-TEA Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) from a global analysis of the experimental data. (CTEQ is an acronym for "Coordinated Theoretical Experimental Project of QCD", and TEA for "Tung et al".) He will expand the theoretical capabilities of the analysis to include corrections from higher-order QCD interactions, heavy quark mass effects, next-to-leading order quantum electrodynamics (QED) interactions, and transverse momentum resummation. He will also refine the techniques for analyzing the PDF uncertainties and the correlations among the predictions of various physical observables, and investigate the implications of PDFs and their associated uncertainties on the most important physical processes at colliders, particularly at the LHC. Measurements of W, Z, top quark pair, single top quark and Higgs boson productions at the LHC, including both inclusive rates and various kinematical distributions, will provide major new input to the determination of PDFs during the next few years. At the same time, refinements of the PDFs are crucial both for testing the Standard Model at greater precision and for probing New Physics effects at high energy colliders.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.