Experimental Particle Physics at UCL

伦敦大学学院实验粒子物理

• 批准号: ST/H001158/2
• 负责人: Nikolaos Konstantinidis
• 金额: $ 1004.69万
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2010 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FH001158%2F2
• 关键词: Experimental; Particle; Physics; UCL

Experimental particle physics seeks to study extremely small sizes, or equivalently extremely high energies. It in effect probes the conditions that existed in the universe a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. These unique conditions that we are studying ultimately allowed stars, galaxies, planets & finally life to form & dictate how the universe will evolve far into the future. We are studying the underlying nature of the physical universe in terms of fundamental forces & particles. Experiments capable of reaching these extremes of energy & size are very technically challenging. The challenges include devising precision detectors which can operate in hostile environments, particle accelerators which can achieve high energy collisions, super-sensitive detectors capable of identifying very rare decays with very small 'background noise', high-speed electronics which can read out millions of pieces of information per second, & robust, flexible software which can analyse the data in a distributed computing system all over the world. Thus another consequence of an active particle physics activity is a stimulation of technological developments, the training of people skilled in the development & use of innovative technology & improvements in industrial manufacturing capability. This is a 'rolling grant', which means that it covers a broad variety of particle physics experiments. The rolling grant underpins the base of highly skilled research & technical staff allowing UCL to be a leader in experimental physics at the very highest levels. It provides a measure of career security, as well as travel & equipment money. This also allows the group to function effectively in the training of PhD students & young post-doctoral researchers. Crucially, the scientific advances that this grant will support are grounded in & will be tested by experimental observations. The science this grant will support includes: - Understanding the mechanism that gives particles mass by searching for new fundamental particles such as the Higgs boson & examining in detail the interactions of W bosons (the particles responsible for the weak nuclear force) at the highest energies using the ATLAS detector at CERN's LHC & by measuring very precisely the mass of the W boson using the CDF detector at the Tevatron collider. - Understanding why we live in a universe that is dominated by matter with only a tiny anti-matter component which is at odds with the conditions immediately following the Big Bang when matter & antimatter co-existed in equal amounts. We will study in detail the properties of the neutrino, which is a stable, uncharged, almost massless particle released in radioactive beta decays & decays of unstable particles. The study is performed at the MINOS, NEMO-III & ultimately SuperNEMO (which we are building) experiments that are searching for rare processes where neutrinos change their identity & for rare beta decay processes releasing two electrons & no neutrinos. - Understanding the nature of the strong nuclear force through measurements of the internal structure of the proton using the ZEUS detector at the HERA collider. - Searching for phenomena at extremely high energy which can help to define a more fundamental theory that unifies the twin pillars of 20th century physics: Einstein's theory of General Relativity & Quantum Mechanics. We are searching for the interaction of ultra-high energy neutrinos with the Antarctic ice using the ANITA experiment & R&D towards experiments searching for the exceedingly rare process whereby a muon (a heavy electron type particle) spontaneously converts into an electron. Some of this work is funded on other grants but is underpinned by the technical expertise that is supported by this rolling grant. Continuity & support for the technical base in the UCL High Energy Physics Group & for the young researchers to develop is vital to progress the science & the benefits that it brings.

实验粒子物理学试图研究极小的尺寸，或相当于极高的能量。它实际上是在宇宙大爆炸后的几分之一秒内探测宇宙中存在的条件。我们正在研究的这些独特的条件最终允许恒星、星系、行星以及最终的生命形成&决定了宇宙将如何演化到遥远的未来。我们正在从基本力&粒子的角度来研究物理宇宙的潜在本质。能够达到这些能量和大小极端的实验在技术上是非常具有挑战性的。挑战包括设计可以在恶劣环境中运行的精密探测器，可以实现高能碰撞的粒子加速器，能够识别非常罕见的衰变和非常小的背景噪声的超灵敏探测器，可以每秒读取数百万条信息的高速电子设备，以及可以在世界各地的分布式计算系统中分析数据的强大、灵活的软件。因此，活跃的粒子物理活动的另一个结果是刺激技术发展，培训熟练开发和使用创新技术的人员，提高工业制造能力。这是一项“滚动拨款”，这意味着它涵盖了各种各样的粒子物理实验。这笔滚动拨款支撑了高技能研究和技术人员的基础，使伦敦大学学院成为最高级别的实验物理学的领导者。它提供了一种职业保障措施，以及旅行和设备费用。这也使该组织能够有效地培训博士生&年轻的博士后研究人员。至关重要的是，这笔赠款将支持的科学进步是以实验观察为基础的，并将得到实验观察的检验。这笔赠款将支持的科学包括：-通过寻找新的基本粒子，如希格斯玻色子，了解赋予粒子质量的机制；利用欧洲核子研究中心大型强子对撞机的ATLAS探测器，详细研究W玻色子(导致弱核力的粒子)在最高能量下的相互作用&通过在Tevatron对撞机上使用CDF探测器非常精确地测量W玻色子的质量。-理解为什么我们生活在一个由物质主导的宇宙中，只有一个微小的反物质成分，这与紧随大爆炸之后的条件不一致，当时物质和反物质以等量共存。我们将详细研究中微子的性质，中微子是一种稳定的、不带电荷的、几乎无质量的粒子，在放射性贝塔衰变过程中释放出来，即不稳定粒子的衰变。这项研究是在MINOS、NEMO-III以及最终的SuperNEMO(我们正在建设的)实验中进行的，这些实验正在寻找中微子改变身份的罕见过程，即罕见的贝塔衰变过程，释放两个电子&没有中微子。-通过使用HERA对撞机上的宙斯探测器测量质子的内部结构，了解强核力的性质。-在极高能量下寻找现象，这可以帮助定义一个更基本的理论，该理论统一了20世纪物理学的两大支柱：爱因斯坦的广义相对论和量子力学理论。我们正在使用ANITA实验和研发来寻找超高能中微子与南极冰层的相互作用，这是一种非常罕见的过程，在这种过程中，Muon(一种重电子类型的粒子)会自发地转化为电子。其中一些工作是由其他赠款资助的，但得到了这笔滚动赠款所支持的技术专门知识的支持。对伦敦大学学院高能物理小组的技术基础的连续性和支持&年轻研究人员的发展对于科学的进步及其带来的好处是至关重要的。

项目成果

Identification and rejection of pile-up jets at high pseudorapidity with the ATLAS detector

• DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5081-5
• 发表时间: 2017-05
• 期刊: The European Physical Journal. C, Particles and Fields
• 作者: M. Aaboud;G. Aad;B. Abbott;J. Abdallah;O. Abdinov;B. Abeloos;S. Abidi;O. AbouZeid;N. Abr

Measurement of the production cross-section of a single top quark in association with a $Z$ boson in proton--proton collisions at 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

• DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2018.03.023
• 发表时间: 2017-10
• 作者: Atlas Collaboration

Search for flavor-changing neutral currents in top quark decays t ? H c and t ? H u in multilepton final states in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

寻找顶夸克衰变中改变风味的中性流 t ？

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.98.032002
• 发表时间: 2018
• 期刊: Physical Review D
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: Aaboud M

A strategy for a general search for new phenomena using data-derived signal regions and its application within the ATLAS experiment

• DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-6540-y
• 发表时间: 2019-02-06
• 期刊: EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL C
• 影响因子: 4.4
• 作者: Aaboud, M.;Aad, G.;Zwalinski, L.
• 通讯作者: Zwalinski, L.