RHUL Particle Physics Rolling Grant
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal Holloway University of London
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
Experimental particle physics addresses some of the fundamental questions about the structure and behaviour of the Universe at the level of the smallest particles of matter, the quarks and the leptons, and the forces acting between them. In this project we are contributing to the preparation of the ATLAS project at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN that will begin taking data in 2009. We have constructed and commissioned electronic systems and the software that drives them. From 2009 onwards we will be analysing the data as it becomes available. In particular we will be searching the data for evidence of the existence of the Higgs boson, one of the key missing elements of the Standard Model of particle physics at present, and for supersymmetric particles and other exotic phenomena, that are expected to exist. We are also planning to understand better the properties of the top quark and the structure of the proton.
Publications
Aad G
(2010)
Commissioning of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer with cosmic rays
in The European Physical Journal C
Aad G
(2010)
Readiness of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter for LHC collisions
in The European Physical Journal C
Aad G
(2010)
Drift Time Measurement in the ATLAS Liquid Argon Electromagnetic Calorimeter using Cosmic Muons
in The European Physical Journal C
Aad G
(2010)
Charged-particle multiplicities in pp interactions at s = 900 GeV measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
in Physics Letters B
Aad G
(2010)
Readiness of the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter for LHC collisions
in The European Physical Journal C
Aad G
(2010)
Search for new particles in two-jet final states in 7 TeV proton-proton collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC.
in Physical review letters
Aad G
(2010)
The ATLAS Inner Detector commissioning and calibration
in The European Physical Journal C
Aad G
(2010)
The ATLAS Simulation Infrastructure
in The European Physical Journal C
Aad G
(2010)
Observation of a Centrality-Dependent Dijet Asymmetry in Lead-Lead Collisions at s NN = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS Detector at the LHC
in Physical Review Letters
Aaltonen T
(2009)
Search for maximal flavor violating scalars in same-charge lepton pairs in pp collisions at sqrt[s]=1.96 TeV.
in Physical review letters
| Description | CIF (Capital Infrastructure Funds) |
| Amount | £200,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Higher Education Funding Council for England |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2009 |
| End | 03/2011 |
| Description | Standard Grant (GridPP3 project) |
| Amount | £265,203 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2008 |
| End | 03/2011 |
| Description | Standard grant (GridPP3 project - hw funds) |
| Amount | £87,600 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2010 |
| End | 07/2010 |
| Description | Physics Taster Day |
| 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 | Many students attend RHUL for a taste of what physics is like at university. Increase in applications to do physics at university. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009,2010 |
| Description | School Talk at LVS, Ascot School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Outreach Talk on "ATLAS & LHC" to female A-level students. This sparked many interested questions after the talk and there was discussion afterwards about the life and career progression of female scientists. The teacher emailed to say that the students had been very insprired by the speaker and to thank the speaker. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | School Talk at SWPS School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Outreach Talk to ~30 A-level students on "ATLAS & LHC", which sparked questions and dicussions afterwards School thanked the speaker and said that the students had been very interested. The teacher asked for follow up talks to different age groups. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Talk to UA3 Retirees, Farnham |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Outreach Talk (with videos and interation game): "ATLAS & LHC" to UA3 Retirees interested in Science, Farnham. About 50 people attended - they were very interested and there was much discussion afterwards. The UA3 organiser wrote to thank the speaker and to invite her back again to give another talk. Saying it had been one of their best talks of the year. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Teachers Talk at Brunel Uni. Goldsmith's Particle Physics Summer School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | ~60 teachers attended the talk - and asked questions afterwards. There was discussion about the talk after too. Teachers enjoyed the talk and felt they had a better understanding of what particle physicsts did and so could talk more confidently about it to their students |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009,2010 |
| Description | Teachers Tour at RHUL |
| 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 | Teachers' Tour of Physics Department showing them the research that was conducted followed by discussion session with many questions and discussions about how there could be more interation between the local schools and RHUL Follow up talks given at local schools |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | UK Masterclass |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Approximately 140 students per year attend the masterclass, held over two days. Many questions and discussions arise from the presentations and interactive sessions. Increased application to do physics at university can be traced to this activity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010 |