Searches for New Phenomena with High Energy Particle Colliders

北方伊利诺斯大学的研究小组正在完成从费米实验室的D 0实验到欧洲核子研究中心大型强子对撞机（LHC）的ATLAS实验的过渡，这是他们的核心计划。 在ATLAS上，北方伊利诺斯州负责强子量热法（ATLAS TileCal）的操作和电子升级，以及Fast TracKer（FTK）触发器的模拟和算法开发。 随着LHC亮度的增加，这些活动对ATLAS性能的改善至关重要。 NIU的物理分析计划专注于顶夸克，矢量玻色子（W/Z）和直接光子产生的研究。 他们还参与寻找希格斯玻色子衰变为τ轻子的过程，这可能是新的超越标准模型现象的指标。北方伊利诺伊州小组继续非常积极地参与探测器的开发，特别是在量热法和μ介子探测领域，并加入了费米实验室Mu 2 e实验，其目标之一是寻找μ子转换成电子，从而轻子数违反。2向K-12教师和公众宣传是北方伊利诺斯计划的一个组成部分。 该组织于2001年在校园内发起了物理外展活动，这是一项努力计划，现在已并入该大学的STEM外展计划。 而且，自2008年以来，该组织一直为QuarkNet保持着一个活跃的中心，让教师和学生参与实践实验。

The Northern Illinois University group is completing its transition from the D0 experiment at Fermilab to the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) as its core program. On ATLAS, Northern Illinois has operational responsibilities and electronics upgrades for hadron calorimetry (the ATLAS TileCal) and in simulation and algorithm development for the Fast TracKer (FTK) Trigger. These activities are central to the improved performance of ATLAS as the luminosity of the LHC increases. The NIU program of physics analysis focuses on studies of top quarks, vector bosons (W/Z), and direct photon production. They are also involved in the search for the decays of Higgs bosons into tau leptons, which could be an indicator of new, Beyond-the-Standard-Model phenomena.The Northern Illinois group continues to be very active in detector development, particularly in the domain of calorimetry and muon detection, and has joined the Fermilab Mu2e experiment, among whose objectives is the search for muon conversion into electrons and hence lepton number violation.Outreach to K-12 teachers and the general public is an integral part of the Northern Illinois program. The group initiated physics outreach on the campus in 2001, a program of effort that is now merged into the university's STEM outreach program. And, since 2008, the group has maintained an active center for QuarkNet, involving teachers and students in hands-on experimentation.