The Experimental Study of Elementary Particle Interactions at High Energy

大型强子对撞机将于2009年10月开始提供数据。剑桥小组参与了ATLAS和LHCb探测器的建造，这些探测器将探索新对撞机开辟的10 TeV能量范围内发生的物理学进展。在ATLAS中，该小组将对Z玻色子产生等预期过程进行测量，以测试我们目前理论的预测是否仍然适用于高能。我们还将直接寻找在许多理论模型中预测的超对称粒子的产生，以及额外空间维度存在的证据。在LHCb中，我们将进行旨在了解物质和反物质之间差异的测量，从而解释为什么我们生活的宇宙似乎包含很少的反物质。为了进行这项研究，我们需要对我们使用的探测器系统进行操作和校准。其中包括ATLAS中的跟踪系统，用于测量粒子的路径，以及LHCb中的RICH探测器，可以区分不同的粒子类型。由于大型强子对撞机将来将以更高的强度运行，我们还计划开发能够以更高速率工作的探测器技术。同时，我们将为未来的实验开发探测器系统。我们还参与了MINOS实验，该实验研究中微子的性质，特别是它们在中微子类型之间转换的能力。我们将完成对本次实验的数据分析工作，以获得迄今为止所做投资的最大回报。

The Large Hadron Collider will begin to deliver data in October 2009. The Cambridge group has participated in the construction of the ATLAS and LHCb detectors which will explore the physics progresses taking place in the 10 TeV energy regime opened up by the new collider. In ATLAS the group will be making measurements of expected processes like Z-boson production, in order to test whether the predictions of our current theories still hold at high energy. We will also be searching directly for the production of supersymmetric particles, predicted in many theoretical models, and for evidence of the existence of extra space dimensions. In LHCb, we will make measurements aimed at understanding the differences between matter and antimatter, and hence explaining why the Universe we live in appears to contain very little antimatter. In order to pursue this research we will need to work on the operation and calibration of the detector systems we work with. These include the tracking system in ATLAS, which measures the paths of particles, and the RICH detector in LHCb, which can distinguish between different particle types. Since the LHC will in future operate at a higher intensity, we also plan to develop detector technologies capable of working at much higher rates. In parallel, we will develop detector systems for future experiments. We also participate in the MINOS experiment, which studies the properties of neutrinos, and in particular their ability to transmute between neutrino types. We will complete our data analysis work on this experiment, to get the maximum return on the investment made to date.