University of Sheffield Particle Physics Rolling Grant - ATLAS, ATLAS upgrade; GridPP, T2K, JPARC future programme; EURECA and R&D

我们与谢菲尔德粒子物理学滚动拨款的研究试图促进对一些关于宇宙起源和组成的最重要问题的理解。其中一个大问题是理解基本粒子的质量来源。我们在日内瓦欧洲核子研究中心(CERN)的大型强子对撞机(LHC)上进行的巨大ATLAS实验的部分工作就是为了解决这个问题，特别是看看著名的希格斯玻色子粒子是否存在。我们用来解释粒子质量的最好的理论预测它应该在那里。我们将在分析即将做出这一令人兴奋的发现的海量数据方面发挥关键作用。ATLAS的另一项研究将是确定所谓的超对称性(SUSY)理论是否正确。这是我们理解粒子如何在高能下相互作用的最好前景，它本身预测了一类新的粒子。这个概念指出，对于每个已知的基本粒子，都存在一个超级伙伴粒子。我们花了多年时间开发现在安装在ATLAS上的关键硅技术，以寻找这些粒子。现在，我们已经准备好使用我们的软件在分析数据方面发挥关键作用，这些数据有望发现它们的存在。SUSY理论的一个含义是，最稳定的新粒子，即所谓的最轻超对称粒子(LSP)，可能在整个宇宙中非常丰富，约占其质量的25%。这将很容易解释物理学中的一大谜团，即天文学家从其对恒星和星系的引力效应中看到的所谓暗物质。我们团队已经开创了在实验室中直接搜索暗物质粒子的技术，并正在参与一项新的跨国项目--EURECA。这将建造一个吨大小的装置，使用低温超导体来执行新的搜索。我们将对如何保护实验免受自然背景粒子(如介子)的影响这一关键方面做出贡献。宇宙中另一个谜团是它最丰富的粒子--中微子的奇怪性质。直到最近才发现，它的质量很小，在太空中传播时，很容易在三种不同的“味道”之间改变形式。关于这一点的细节还不完全清楚，但已知的是，如果正确地解开它，它可能会回答另一个大问题，为什么宇宙中几乎没有反物质。我们正在通过参加日本的大型国际T2K中微子束实验来解决这些问题。我们正在建造探测器的一个关键部件，并将在两年内开始分析数据，以揭示这些问题。T2K可能不会完成全部工作，所以我们在英国推动了一种新的中微子探测器概念的工作，基于液态Ar，为FJNE计划做出了贡献。我们计划建造测试设备，使下一代中微子实验能够遵循T2K。这也与我们在加速器技术MICE方面的工作有关，我们正在建造测试束目标。这是迈向终极设施--中微子工厂的关键一步。我们正在研究英国核电厂项目中的关键技术。最后，为这些基础研究开发的许多硬件和计算机代码在我们的主要研究之外具有很大的相关性。有很多例子，涉及与十几家英国公司的项目。例如，我们与科鲁斯有限公司在中子探测新技术方面的合作，使我们得以开发新的监测仪，以监测港口的非法核材料运输。这将继续下去，并扩大到医疗应用领域。我们的暗物质工作产生了一个新的国家地下科学设施--博尔比实验室。在这里，我们启动了一个关于气候变化的新项目--天空，以探索漫画射线对云形成的影响。

Our research with the particle physics rolling grant at Sheffield attempts to progress understanding of some of the most important questions concerning the origins and make-up of the Universe. One of these big questions is to understand what gives fundamental particles their mass. Part of our work on the huge ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva is aimed at this question, in particular to see if the famous Higgs Boson particle exists. The best theories we have to explain particle mass predict that it should be there. We will play a key role in analysing the vast amount of data soon expected to make this exciting discovery. Another search at ATLAS will be to determine if the so-called supersymmetry (SUSY) theory is correct. This is our best prospect for understanding how particles interact at high energy and itself predicts a new class of particles. The concept states that for every known fundamental particle there exists a super-partner particle. We worked for many years developing the key silicon technology now installed in ATLAS to search for these particles. Now we are ready with our software to play a key role in analysing the data that will hopefully discover that they exist. One of the implications of SUSY theory is the likelihood that the most stable new particle, the so-called lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), probably is very abundant throughout the Universe, making up about 25% of its mass. This would easily explain one of the big mysteries in physics, the so-called Dark Matter seen by astronomers from its gravitational effects on stars and galaxies. Our group has pioneered techniques to search directly for dark matter particles in the laboratory and is participating in a new multi-national venture, EURECA. This will build a tonne-sized device using low temperature superconductors to perform a new search. We will contribute to the key aspect of how to shield the experiment from natural background particles, like muons. Another mystery in the Universe are the strange properties of its most abundant particle, the neutrino. This has only recently been found to have a small mass and to readily change form between three different 'flavours' while propagating through space. Details of this are not fully understood but it is known that if properly unravelled it might answer another big question, why there is so little anti-matter in the Universe. We are working on these questions through participation in the big international T2K neutrino beam experiments in Japan. We are building a key component of the detectors and will, within two years, start to analyse the data to unravel these issues. T2K probably will not do a full job, so we have instigated in the UK work on a new neutrino detector concept, based on liquid argon, contributing to the FJNE programme. We plan to build test devices to enable the next generation of neutrino experiments to follow T2K. This is linked also to our work on accelerator technology, MICE, where we are building test beam targets. This is a vital step towards the ultimate facility, a neutrino factory. We are working on key technology for this within the UKNF project. Finally, much of the hardware and computer code developed for these fundamental studies have great relevance well outside our main research. There are many examples, involving projects with a dozen UK companies. For instance, our work with Corus Ltd. on new techniques for neutron detection, has allowed development of new monitors to detect illicit transport of nuclear materials at ports. This will continue now and broaden into medical applications. Our dark matter work has produced a new national facility for underground science, the Boulby laboratory. Here we have started a new project on climate change, SKY, to explore the effect of comic rays on cloud formation.