The Experimental Study of Particle Interactions at High Energy
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
The Cambridge High Energy Physics Group focuses its research activities on experiments at high-energy accelerators, currently the Large Hadron Collider and the ATLAS and LHCb experiments at CERN, the neutrino experiment MicroBooNE, and the long-baseline neutrino experiment DUNE at Fermilab, and future collider facilities. The goal is to understand the fundamental particles of nature and their interactions, in particular, to discover physics beyond our current understanding, to understand why the Universe is made only of matter and not antimatter and to reveal the identity of dark matter.
The Group is also central to the multi-disciplinary Quantum Technologies for Fundamental Physics projects, AION and MAGIS, which use novel atom interferometry to detect and identify sources of dark matter and gravitational waves in the Universe.
This grant will enable the group to fully exploit the physics of the LHC, to deliver our commitments to the current upgrades of the ATLAS and LHCb experiments, to prepare for the future upgrades of ATLAS and LHCb, to consolidate our strong participation in our neutrino programme, to deliver our commitments and exploit the first physics from the AION project and MAGIS experiment, and to undertake generic hardware research and development. The opportunities offered by this exciting physics programme will not only drive the forefront of discovery, but also provide substantial impact to local enterprises and on public engagement.
The Group is also central to the multi-disciplinary Quantum Technologies for Fundamental Physics projects, AION and MAGIS, which use novel atom interferometry to detect and identify sources of dark matter and gravitational waves in the Universe.
This grant will enable the group to fully exploit the physics of the LHC, to deliver our commitments to the current upgrades of the ATLAS and LHCb experiments, to prepare for the future upgrades of ATLAS and LHCb, to consolidate our strong participation in our neutrino programme, to deliver our commitments and exploit the first physics from the AION project and MAGIS experiment, and to undertake generic hardware research and development. The opportunities offered by this exciting physics programme will not only drive the forefront of discovery, but also provide substantial impact to local enterprises and on public engagement.
Publications

Aaij R
(2024)
Helium identification with LHCb
in Journal of Instrumentation

Aaij R
(2023)
Study of charmonium decays to K S 0 K p in the B ? ( K S 0 K p ) K channels
in Physical Review D

Aaij R
(2024)
Production of ? and ? ' mesons in p p and p Pb collisions
in Physical Review C

Aaij R
(2023)
Measurement of the ?_{b}^{0}??(1520)µ^{+}µ^{-} Differential Branching Fraction.
in Physical review letters

Aaij R
(2024)
Measurement of CP Violation in B^{0}??(?l^{+}l^{-})K_{S}^{0}(?p^{+}p^{-}) Decays.
in Physical review letters

Aaij R
(2023)
Evidence of a J / ? K S 0 Structure in B 0 ? J / ? ? K S 0 Decays
in Physical Review Letters

Aaij R
(2023)
Search for $$D^{*}(2007)^{0} \rightarrow \mu ^{+} \mu ^{-}$$ in $$B^{-}\rightarrow \pi ^{-} \mu ^{+} \mu ^{-}$$ decays
in The European Physical Journal C

Aaij R
(2023)
A study of $$C\!P$$ violation in the decays $${ {B} ^\pm } \rightarrow [{ {K} ^+} { {K} ^-} { {\uppi } ^+} { {\uppi } ^-} ]_{D} h^{\pm }$$ ($$h = K, \pi $$) and $${ {B} ^\pm } \rightarrow [{ {\uppi } ^+} { {\uppi } ^-} { {\uppi } ^+} { {\uppi } ^-} ]_{D} h^{\pm }$$
in The European Physical Journal C

Aaij R
(2023)
Precision Measurement of CP Violation in the Penguin-Mediated Decay B_{s}^{0}???.
in Physical review letters

Aaij R
(2023)
Test of lepton flavor universality using B 0 ? D * - t + ? t decays with hadronic t channels
in Physical Review D
Description | AION/MAGIS |
Organisation | Fermilab - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory |
Country | United States |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | We design and build parts of the interferometer, and do physics analyses |
Collaborator Contribution | They build other parts of the detector |
Impact | A few physics publications |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | ATLAS |
Organisation | European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) |
Department | ATLAS Collaboration |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We build parts of the SCT detector, electronics, software etc, and we do physics analysis. |
Collaborator Contribution | They built the other parts of the detector. |
Impact | Several hundred physics publications. |
Description | DUNE UK Production Project |
Organisation | Fermilab - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory |
Department | DUNE |
Country | United States |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | We test parts of the DUNE/protoDUNE detectors, provide hardware and software etc, and we do physics analysis. |
Collaborator Contribution | They built the other parts of the detector |
Impact | A few publications |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | LHCb |
Organisation | European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) |
Department | Large Hadron Collider Beauty Experiment (LHCb) |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | We build parts of the RICH detector, electronics, software etc, and we do physics analysis. |
Collaborator Contribution | They built other parts of the detector |
Impact | Several hundred physics publications |
Description | AION talk |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | A talk on the AION project as part of the Cambridge Festival, which sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.jesus.cam.ac.uk/articles/programme-announced-cambridge-festival-2023 |
Description | Cambridge Physics Talks |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Regular short films are made discussing our work for the general public. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3TasqeKZfA&ab_channel=CavendishLaboratory%2CUniversityofCambridge https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HG-TJjh9uQg |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Giant Experiments Cosmic Questions |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | A live panel debate where the Future Circular Collider was discussed. The event triggered alot of discussion and interest afterwards. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ain50wcB2-8&ab_channel=FutureCircularColliderStudy |
Description | HEP Masterclass |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | 120 A-level students per year attend our HEP Masterclass to hear seminars and have hands on experience with coding, detectors, and statistics. The schools report the enthusiasm the students have for learning something related to, but beyond their courses. Splitting into smaller groups for the practical labs allows lots of opportunity for discussion and questions. The effort increases interest in HEP and physics in general. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
URL | https://www.hep.phy.cam.ac.uk/Masterclass |
Description | News articles |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Online magazine articles to discuss the results from our physics publications https://theconversation.com/evidence-of-brand-new-physics-at-cern-why-were-cautiously-optimistic-about-our-new-findings-157464 https://theconversation.com/new-technique-uses-near-miss-particle-physics-to-peer-into-quantum-world-two-physicists-explain-how-they-are-measuring-wobbling-tau-particles-205628 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
Description | Press Releases |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Regular press releases discussing the results of our physics publications, aimed at the general public. https://www.lhcb.ac.uk/LHCb-UK/Welcome.html https://atlas.cern/Updates/Briefing/SUSY-Needles https://atlas.cern/Updates/Physics-Briefing/SUSY-Dark-Matter |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |