Particle Theory for LHC Physics

该奖项资助肯尼索州立大学Nikolaos Kidonakis教授的研究活动。该研究项目涉及与大型强子对撞机（LHC）相关的理论粒子物理，LHC多年来一直是世界上最高能量的粒子对撞机。通过在大型强子对撞机上进行高能质子与质子的对撞，物理学家希望能比以往任何时候都更多地了解物质的基本粒子以及它们在更高能量和更小距离下的相互作用。顶夸克是迄今为止发现的质量最大的基本粒子，具有许多独特的性质，因此它是大型强子对撞机物理项目的核心部分。希格斯玻色子是负责为所有其他基本粒子产生质量的粒子，对其性质的确定是当务之急。Kidonakis教授将通过执行最先进的计算来改进顶夸克产生、希格斯产生和其他过程的理论预测。因此，这项研究将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：发现和理解基本粒子以及寻找新的物理学。预计该项目还将产生更广泛的重大影响。Kidonakis教授将让学生参与他的研究，从而为刚开始研究该领域的初级物理学家提供关键的培训。该项目还将加强肯尼索州立大学和更广泛地区的物理教育和研究。Kidonakis教授还将继续在会议上发言，并继续积极参与向更广泛的社区和广大公众开展的外展活动。从技术上讲，这个研究项目的目标是开发一种形式，可以改进对大型强子对撞机各种过程的横截面和微分分布的理论预测，包括顶夸克的产生、希格斯的产生，以及标准模型和新物理模型中的其他过程。高阶修正，包括共线和软胶子修正，将计算微分和总截面。将推导出各种运动学的三粒子最终状态的恢复，从而大大扩展了现有的方法。软异常尺寸的理论计算将以三环精度进行。这些计算对于顶夸克的精确研究、对希格斯玻色子和电弱物理的理解以及在大型强子对撞机上寻找新的物理学都很重要。该项目还将推进最先进的微扰计算。为了提高LHC物理理论预测的准确性，必须包含软校正和共线校正。微分分布，包括横向动量和速度的双微分分布，是非常重要的，因为它们对新物理很敏感。为了改进理论预测，特别是涉及顶夸克和希格斯玻色子的过程，还需要对有三个或更多粒子处于最终状态的过程进行恢复。因此，该项目的结果将对各种过程进行最先进的预测，对大型强子对撞机的数据解释和寻找新物理学，以及对顶夸克和希格斯玻色子的理解非常重要。这项研究的结果将通过在审定的期刊上发表和在国际会议和讲习班上发言的方式广泛传播。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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 Nikolaos Kidonakis at Kennesaw State University. This research project concerns theoretical particle physics that is relevant to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which has been the highest-energy particle collider in the world for many years. By colliding protons with protons at high energies at the LHC, physicists expect to learn more about the fundamental particles of matter and their interactions at higher energies and smaller distances than have ever been previously explored. The top quark is the most massive elementary particle that has been discovered, with many unique properties, and thus it is a central part of the physics program at the LHC. The Higgs boson is the particle responsible for generating masses for all of the other elementary particles, and the determination of its properties is a high priority. Professor Kidonakis will improve theoretical predictions for top-quark production, Higgs production, and other processes by performing state-of-the-art calculations. As such, this research will advance the national interest by promoting the progress of science in one of its most fundamental directions: the discovery and understanding of elementary particles and the search for new physics. This project is also expected to have significant broader impacts. Professor Kidonakis will involve students in his research, and thereby provide critical training for junior physicists beginning research in this field. The project will also strengthen physics education and research at Kennesaw State University and the wider region. Professor Kidonakis will also continue to speak at conferences and remain active in outreach activities to the wider community and the public at large.More technically, the objective of this research project is to develop formalisms that can improve theoretical predictions for cross sections and differential distributions for various processes at the LHC, including top-quark production, Higgs production, and other processes in the Standard Model and in models of new physics. High-order corrections, including collinear and soft-gluon corrections, will be calculated for differential and total cross sections. Resummations will be derived for three-particle final states in various kinematics, thus greatly extending current methods. Theoretical calculations of soft anomalous dimensions will be performed to three-loop accuracy. These calculations are important for precision studies of the top quark, for understanding the Higgs boson and electroweak physics, and for the search for new physics at the LHC. The project will also advance the state-of-the-art in perturbative calculations. The inclusion of soft and collinear corrections is necessary to improve the accuracy of theoretical predictions for LHC physics. Differential distributions, including double-differential distributions in transverse momentum and rapidity, are very important because they are sensitive to new physics. Resummations for processes with three or more particles in the final state are also needed to improve theoretical predictions, in particular for processes that involve top quarks and Higgs bosons. The results of the project will therefore be important in making state-of-the-art predictions for various processes, for the interpretation of data from the LHC and the search for new physics, and for understanding the top quark and the Higgs boson. The results of this research will be widely disseminated through publication in refereed journals and presentations in international conferences and workshops.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.