The Exploitation and Upgrade of the CMS and LHCb Experiments, Detector R&D and NA62
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the largest particle accelerator to be built at CERN. It is the highest energy particle accelerator ever built, with a 27 km circumference, 100 m underground, straddling the French and Swiss border outside of Geneva. It will smash together protons travelling at 99.999999% of the speed of light 40 million times per second. With this machine, conditions similar to those a billionth of a second after the Big Bang will be reproduced. The Bristol particle physics group participate in 2 of the major experiments at the LHC, CMS and LHCb. The LHC is a discovery machine. The Standard Model of particle physics has been extremey successful in describing the physics of the Universe to date, but we know it to be incomplete. The Standard Model does not explain dark matter or dark energy, neutrino oscillations, or why the matter left in the universe wasn't destroyed by antimatter created at the big bang. The Standard Model recognizes four forces: electromagnetic force; the weak nuclear force; the strong nuclear force as well as gravity. It is believed that these forces could be different manifestation of something more fundamental. With the highest energies created to date, collisions at the LHC will push forward the frontiers of particle physics where we hope to find new physics particles and processes to explain these phenomenon. The Bristol group will be at the fore of answering these fundamental questions. The physics opportunities demand the development of novel sensors, detector systems and advanced computing techniques. These developments are at the cutting edge of technology. The Bristol group will be at the forefront in developing these systems for future experiments but also ensuring the knowledge generated will be transferred to the wider economy for enhanced productivity and economic growth.
Publications
Aaij R
(2012)
Measurement of the effective B s 0 ? K + K - lifetime
in Physics Letters B
Aaij R
(2013)
Measurements of the ? b 0 ? J / ? ? decay amplitudes and the ? b 0 polarisation in pp collisions at s = 7 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Aaij R
(2012)
Measurements of B(c)+ production and mass with the B(c)+ ? J/?p+ decay.
in Physical review letters
Aaij R
(2012)
A model-independent Dalitz plot analysis of B ± ? D K ± with D ? K S 0 h + h - ( h = p , K ) decays and constraints on the CKM angle ?
in Physics Letters B
Aaij R
(2013)
Model-independent search for CP violation in D 0 ? K - K + p - p + and D 0 ? p - p + p + p - decays
in Physics Letters B
Aaij R
(2013)
Measurement of the CP asymmetry in B(0)?K(*0)µ(+)µ(-) decays.
in Physical review letters
Aaij R
(2014)
Measurement of the flavour-specific CP-violating asymmetry a sl s in B s 0 decays
in Physics Letters B
Aaij R
(2013)
Measurement of C P violation and the B s 0 meson decay width difference with B s 0 ? J / ? K + K - and B s 0 ? J / ? p + p - decays
in Physical Review D
Aaij R
(2013)
First observation of the decay Bs2*(5840)(0)?B*+ K- and studies of excited Bs(0) mesons.
in Physical review letters
Aaij R
(2013)
Measurement of the polarization amplitudes in B 0 ? J / ? K * ( 892 ) 0 decays
in Physical Review D
Description | The LHC has dominated the field during the review period, starting in 2009 after around fifteen years of preparation. The group made major contributions to the design, construction and commissioning of the CMS experiment. Bristol physicists have played a leading role in early data taking at CMS, with a significant contribution to several analyses, as well as taking on a number of roles within physics management. The group's physics programme encompasses both Standard Model measurements and searches for new physics in 'conventional' and 'exotic' channels. The group successfully targeted a number of analyses designed to make use of the early data in 2010, and has continued to provide leadership in these areas whilst also turning towards higher luminosity studies with systematic limitations. Group members also play a wider role in the scrutiny of CMS output, serving in numerous formal analysis review and editorial roles. Flavour physics has unique sensitivity to physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). BSM particles can affect quark flavour changes through loop processes. Crucially, there is no kinematic cut-off for the masses inside the loops. This approach is therefore sensitive to new particles far heavier than those directly produced at even the highest-energy colliders - it allows us to see beyond the energy frontier. The more precisely we measure these processes, the further we can see. TheFlavour Physics group therefore had a comprehensive programme of beauty, charm and kaon physics at the precision frontier. The group has significant expertise in solid-state tracking detectors, both silicon and diamond, and has developed the infrastructure and skills to play a major role in the advancement of this technology. In this programme we have capitalised on Bristol's strengths in electronics and mechanical design, and have also begun new activities with gas ionisation sensors optimised for low cost and robustness. We exploit opportunities to contribute to future projects and upgrades of existing experiments, and to transfer particle physics technology to industry, the public sector, and other academic disciplines. |
Exploitation Route | Collaboration with Diamond Detectors Limited, to design and produce a very fast, diamond based spectroscopy system. This system will have significantly improved radiation hardness and count rates over existing detectors. It makes use of detector and readout technologies developed both in industry and within the group, and will open new markets in the medical, security and energy sectors. Development of a muon tomography system for the detection of illicit Special Nuclear Materials, in conjunction with the Atomic Weapons Establishment. The fine-pitch RPC technology developed is under study for several other industrial applications. The use of Grid computing technology in the modelling and economic impact assessment of landslides in developing countries. |
Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Electronics,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology,Other |
Description | CASE studentships. optimisation of mass storage systems & structural stability of lightweight carbon fibre structures with RAL. Development of a very fast, diamond based spectroscopy device) Diamond Detectors Ltd (DDL), Poole. Muon topography (AWE) |
First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Electronics,Energy,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology,Other |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
Description | A large-area detector for precision time-of-flight measurements |
Amount | € 2,696,000 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 291175 |
Organisation | European Research Council (ERC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | Belgium |
Start | 06/2012 |
End | 06/2016 |
Description | Upgrades of the Tracker and Trigger of the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC |
Amount | £1,135,033 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ST/K003216/1 |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2013 |
End | 04/2017 |
Title | Grid |
Description | Development of Grid computing tools to enable handling of large datasets |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2012 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Ongoing activity |
URL | http://mossaic.org |
Title | Metadata |
Description | Developments with using CouchDB |
Type Of Material | Data handling & control |
Year Produced | 2010 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | ongoing |
URL | http://mossaic.org |
Description | CMS |
Organisation | European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) |
Department | Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Shared analysis and detector contributions |
Collaborator Contribution | Shared analysis and detector contributions |
Impact | see publication list |
Description | LHCb |
Organisation | European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) |
Department | Large Hadron Collider Beauty Experiment (LHCb) |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Scientific collaboration |
Collaborator Contribution | Shared analysis and building on experiment |
Impact | see list of papers |
Start Year | 2006 |
Description | NA62 |
Organisation | European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) |
Department | NA62 Rare Kaon-Decay Experiment |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Detector development |
Collaborator Contribution | Detector development & analysis |
Impact | http://na62.web.cern.ch/NA62/Documents/ReferenceDocuments.html |
Start Year | 2008 |