The study of elementary particles and their interactions
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
This grant is to continue the groups programme of investigation into the properties of elementary particles and the fundamental forces of nature. One of the main objectives of this grant will be to support the exploitation of three new experiments which will start taking data during the period of this grant. The CMS experiment will break new ground in studying the constituents of matter and their interactions, hoping to observe the Higgs particle and understand the origins of mass, as well as searching for new phenomena, such as finding evidence of potential dark matter candidates. The LHCb experiment will offer complementary tests of the Standard Model with the ability to look for extremely rare decays in flavour physics which are sensitive to contributions from new physics, as well as measuring CP violation in the decays of B mesons. Both these experiments will make extensive use of Grid computing which the group will continue to develop and exploit. The T2K experiment will allow us to expand our understanding of the masses and mixings in the neutrino sector, and should provide a key measurement which will guide us as to whether we ultimately could see evidence of CP violation in the neutrino sector. Follow on experiments looking to measure CP violation in neutrinos would require a dedicate neutrino factory, and the group is heavily involved in understanding the issues in preparing an accelerator for such a facility. One of the other missing pieces of the neutrino puzzle is whether the neutrino is its own anti-particle. This grant will support preparation of a future experiment to attempt to determine if the neutrino is a Majorana particle. The universe may be largely composed of Dark Matter which until now remains un-detected. The group will continue is activity in searching for direct evidence of a dark matter candidate. Accelerators which are used in particle physics also have potential applications for energy, and healthcare, and the group will continue its research into how to apply techniques which have benefit for future research accelerators as well as applied use of accelerators. The group will also be active in preparing the next generation of detectors for future facilities, both at the high luminosity upgrade of the LHC, as well as for other future colliders.
Organisations
- Imperial College London (Lead Research Organisation)
- University College London (Collaboration)
- Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (Collaboration)
- Fermilab - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Collaboration)
- Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (Collaboration)
- European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) (Collaboration)
Publications
Collaboration Z
(2009)
Measurement of J /? helicity distributions in inelastic photoproduction at HERA
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Collaboration Z
(2009)
Measurement of beauty photoproduction using decays into muons in dijet events at HERA
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Collaboration Z
(2009)
Measurement of the charm fragmentation function in D * photoproduction at HERA
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Collaboration Z
(2009)
A measurement of the Q 2 , W and t dependences of deeply virtual Compton scattering at HERA
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Collaboration Z
(2009)
Leading proton production in deep inelastic scattering at HERA
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Colling D. J.
(2006)
Adding instruments and workflow support to existing grid architectures
in COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE - ICCS 2006, PT 3, PROCEEDINGS
Copeland Edmund J.
(2006)
Dynamics of dark energy
in INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MODERN PHYSICS D
DAUNCEY, Paul D
(2007)
Consistent Kaluza-Klein reductions and supersymmetric AdS solutions
DAUNCEY, Paul D
(2007)
MiniBooNE's first neutrino oscillation result
DAUNCEY, Paul D
(2007)
Cosmological implications of a supersymmetric extension of the Brans-Dicke theory
DAUNCEY, Paul D
(2007)
A new non-perturbative time-dependent string configuration
DAUNCEY, Paul D
(2007)
Effects of the primordial magnetic field on the CMB
DAUNCEY, Paul D
(2007)
Prospects for (non-SUSY) new physics with first LHC data
DAUNCEY, Paul D
(2007)
Precision standard model measurements at the Tevatron
DAUNCEY, Paul D
(2007)
Quasi-exactly solvable quasinormal modes
DAUNCEY, Paul D
(2007)
Multiple scalar particle decay and perturbation generation
DAUNCEY, Paul D
(2007)
Cosmological constant from gauge fields on extra dimensions
DAUNCEY, Paul D
(2007)
Cosmological tests of generalized RS brane-worlds with Weyl fluid
DAUNCEY, Paul D
(2007)
Paraquantum extension of the Wess-Zumino model
DAUNCEY, Paul D
(2007)
Hunting for the top partner in the littlest Higgs model with T parity at the CERN LHC
Davies Gavin
(2008)
Higgs searches at the Tevatron
in ACTA PHYSICA POLONICA B
| Description | Large number of measurements and discoveries as evidenced in the publications. |
| Exploitation Route | Yes in providing constraints on future fundamental physics measurements |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | Public Engagement, impact on other academic disciplines. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2009 |
| Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | EU FP7 |
| Amount | £200,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | European Commission |
| Department | Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | 04/2008 |
| End | 04/2011 |
| Description | CMS |
| Organisation | European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) |
| Department | Physics Department |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The group's programme is dominated by preparation for the start of data taking for the LHC experiments and, in particular, CMS. The Imperial group is one of the largest and most influential in CMS. T. Virdee is the Spokesperson for CMS and G. Hall is the UK PI and the Tracker Upgrade coordinator. J. Nash is the CMS Upgrade Project coordinator, O. Buchmuller is a newly appointed lecturer who coordinates the SUSY search group, C. Seez coordinates the e/gamma reconstruction group, D. Futyan leads the alignment activity for CMS, and C. Foudas is the leader of the Global Calorimeter Trigger project and the Trigger Project Upgrade coordinator. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We collaborate with over 2500 other scientists - who bring a very large number of contributions to our research |
| Impact | Technology development and publications listed elsewhere |
| Description | D0 |
| Organisation | Fermilab - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | This is longer than was originally planned, however we intend to remain committed to DØ which is now producing excellent results and still has discovery potential before the LHC will obtain significant luminosity. As much as possible, the DØ team will be kept at current strength over the next two years, but we have already started the transition of the members of the team to our other activities. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Many |
| Impact | publications listed elsewhere |
| Description | LHCb |
| Organisation | European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) |
| Department | Physics Department |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Within LHCb, D. Websdale has now retired, but has remained active in the completion of the construction and commissioning of RICH1 at College. The RICH counters are the critical feature of LHCb, and justify this dedicated LHC CP violation experiment. T. Savidge is the project engineer for RICH1. The timescale for RICH1 was very challenging following redesign of the detector to reduce material and increase the upstream field for the trigger; it necessitated major changes and much improved shielding for the photon detectors. The group worked to an extremely tight schedule to design, manufacture, and install the RICH1 in time for first beam at the LHC. We were pleased to be able to hire a new chair in particle physics to work on LHCb, and appointed A. Golutvin in April 2008. He has now taken over as Spokesperson of LHCb. U. Egede handles our physics analysis plans and software development. He serves as co-convenor of the LHCb Rare Decays group and is also the UK LHCb Physics coordinator. He also manages the Ganga system. As the Standard Model (SM) has proved so successful in describing the CP violation measurements, rare decays are now especially important for searches for beyond SM (BSM) physics and they are emphasised in our physics planning. |
| Collaborator Contribution | many |
| Impact | Technology and publications listed elsewhere |
| Description | T2K |
| Organisation | Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex |
| Country | Japan |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The Imperial T2K team is now very influential in the collaboration. D. Wark was elected as international spokesperson in 2007. In addition, two lecturers, Y. Ushida and M. Wascko, form the nucleus of the Imperial T2K team. The Imperial group has been active in the preparation of the electronics for the calorimeter and the software for the experiment, and is busy preparing for first beams in the coming year. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Many |
| Impact | Technology and publications listed elsewhere |
| Description | gridpp |
| Organisation | European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) |
| Department | IT Department |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Grid activities under the supervision of D. Colling have continued to grow and are now a significant part of the group's operations. This is principally in the context of the GridPP2 project. The investment is now paying dividends with the London Tier-2 centre forming an important part of the group's and experiments' analysis strategies and capabilities. |
| Collaborator Contribution | many |
| Impact | many |
| Description | gridpp |
| Organisation | Rutherford Appleton Laboratory |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Grid activities under the supervision of D. Colling have continued to grow and are now a significant part of the group's operations. This is principally in the context of the GridPP2 project. The investment is now paying dividends with the London Tier-2 centre forming an important part of the group's and experiments' analysis strategies and capabilities. |
| Collaborator Contribution | many |
| Impact | many |
| Description | neutrino factory |
| Organisation | Rutherford Appleton Laboratory |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The ultimate precision measurements of the MNS mixing matrix, including the phase which would result in leptonic CP violation, cannot be achieved by a conventional superbeam. The preferred technique is a neutrino factory based on a muon storage ring. Activity on neutrino factory research began at Imperial in 2000 with the award of an Opportunities RA position to K. Long. This has blossomed, first into the MICE experiment which, over the last two years, has been under construction. MICE tests ionisation cooling for muons, which is critical for the realisation of a high intensity muon storage ring. K. Long leads the UK effort on MICE. Involvement with MICE led to a general desire to improve accelerator science within the group and, spurred on by the PPARC initiative in this area, we have had considerable support from College. With College support, a joint lectureship with STFC/RAL in accelerator science was established and J. Pozimski was appointed in January 2005. The immediate work is on the Front End Test Stand with ISIS division at RAL and this brings a new dimension to our activities. Additional STFC support for the UK Neutrino Factory Collaboration, which is led by K. Long, has further increased the viability of our operations. As a consequence there was expansion with a second joint lectureship with STFC/RAL taken up by J. Pasternak in October 2008, and two joint Fellowships with FNAL. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Many |
| Impact | publications and technology listed elsewhere |
| Description | supernemo |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Department | Department of Physics & Astronomy |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The group has joined supernemo, and is now leading simulation development for the detector. |
| Collaborator Contribution | exchange of technology/software development |
| Impact | publications elsewhere |
| Start Year | 2009 |
| Description | Schools |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The HEP Masterclass held each year, in conjunction with the HEP group of the Institute of Physics, has been organised by P. Koppenberg and involves most of the group, and has a very high approval rating from the approximately 100 sixth-form attendees. Last year the format of the Masterclass was revised to include both an extended discussion period and increased time for individual discussion with members of staff. The feedback on the new format was extremely positive, and will continue to be developed in the coming years. Continued high attendance at Masterclass |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010 |
| Description | Televsion |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The group has a strong commitment to contributing to the public understanding of science. Members of the group regularly give talks at schools. The group also maintains good contacts with the media, and the startup of the LHC has provided an excellent opportunity for members of the group to be visible promoting science, with many Imperial group members involved in media presentations. T. Virdee, C. Timlin, T. Whyntie, J. Nash, G. Hall, J. Marrouche and others have appeared in the media discussing the LHC. These appearances include: BBC TV, radio, and web, ITN TV and radio, CNN TV and cnn.com, Channel 5 News, Sky News, Al Jazeera TV (English language), Slovenian radio, Newsweek, Evening Standard and Daily Telegraph. TS Virdee selected as one of 100 most influential scientists. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010 |