Experimental Particle Physics at UCL
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
Experimental particle physics seeks to study extremely small sizes, or equivalently extremely high energies. It in effect probes the conditions that existed in the universe a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. These unique conditions that we are studying ultimately allowed stars, galaxies, planets & finally life to form & dictate how the universe will evolve far into the future. We are studying the underlying nature of the physical universe in terms of fundamental forces & particles. Experiments capable of reaching these extremes of energy & size are very technically challenging. The challenges include devising precision detectors which can operate in hostile environments, particle accelerators which can achieve high energy collisions, super-sensitive detectors capable of identifying very rare decays with very small 'background noise', high-speed electronics which can read out millions of pieces of information per second, & robust, flexible software which can analyse the data in a distributed computing system all over the world. Thus another consequence of an active particle physics activity is a stimulation of technological developments, the training of people skilled in the development & use of innovative technology & improvements in industrial manufacturing capability. This is a 'rolling grant', which means that it covers a broad variety of particle physics experiments. The rolling grant underpins the base of highly skilled research & technical staff allowing UCL to be a leader in experimental physics at the very highest levels. It provides a measure of career security, as well as travel & equipment money. This also allows the group to function effectively in the training of PhD students & young post-doctoral researchers. Crucially, the scientific advances that this grant will support are grounded in & will be tested by experimental observations. The science this grant will support includes: - Understanding the mechanism that gives particles mass by searching for new fundamental particles such as the Higgs boson & examining in detail the interactions of W bosons (the particles responsible for the weak nuclear force) at the highest energies using the ATLAS detector at CERN's LHC & by measuring very precisely the mass of the W boson using the CDF detector at the Tevatron collider. - Understanding why we live in a universe that is dominated by matter with only a tiny anti-matter component which is at odds with the conditions immediately following the Big Bang when matter & antimatter co-existed in equal amounts. We will study in detail the properties of the neutrino, which is a stable, uncharged, almost massless particle released in radioactive beta decays & decays of unstable particles. The study is performed at the MINOS, NEMO-III & ultimately SuperNEMO (which we are building) experiments that are searching for rare processes where neutrinos change their identity & for rare beta decay processes releasing two electrons & no neutrinos. - Understanding the nature of the strong nuclear force through measurements of the internal structure of the proton using the ZEUS detector at the HERA collider. - Searching for phenomena at extremely high energy which can help to define a more fundamental theory that unifies the twin pillars of 20th century physics: Einstein's theory of General Relativity & Quantum Mechanics. We are searching for the interaction of ultra-high energy neutrinos with the Antarctic ice using the ANITA experiment & R&D towards experiments searching for the exceedingly rare process whereby a muon (a heavy electron type particle) spontaneously converts into an electron. Some of this work is funded on other grants but is underpinned by the technical expertise that is supported by this rolling grant. Continuity & support for the technical base in the UCL High Energy Physics Group & for the young researchers to develop is vital to progress the science & the benefits that it brings.
Organisations
Publications
Aaboud M
(2019)
In situ calibration of large-radius jet energy and mass in 13 TeV proton-proton collisions with the ATLAS detector
in The European Physical Journal C
Aaboud M
(2018)
Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aaboud M
(2017)
Search for new high-mass phenomena in the dilepton final state using 36 fb-1 of proton-proton collision data at s = 13 $$ \sqrt{s}=13 $$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaboud M
(2017)
Measurements of electroweak [Formula: see text] production and constraints on anomalous gauge couplings with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aaboud M
(2018)
Measurement of the cross section for isolated-photon plus jet production in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV using the ATLAS detector
in Physics Letters B
Aaboud M
(2018)
Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aaboud M
(2018)
Search for additional heavy neutral Higgs and gauge bosons in the ditau final state produced in 36 fb-1 of pp collisions at s = 13 $$ \sqrt{s}=13 $$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaboud M
(2017)
Search for supersymmetry in final states with two same-sign or three leptons and jets using 36 fb-1 of $$ \sqrt{s}=13 $$ TeV pp collision data with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaboud M
(2017)
Search for squarks and gluinos in events with an isolated lepton, jets, and missing transverse momentum at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Physical Review D
Aaboud M
(2018)
Measurement of the production cross section of three isolated photons in pp collisions at s = 8 TeV using the ATLAS detector
in Physics Letters B
Aaboud M
(2018)
Search for W' ? tb decays in the hadronic final state using pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Physics Letters B
Aaboud M
(2017)
Search for Dark Matter Produced in Association with a Higgs Boson Decaying to bb[over ¯] Using 36 fb^{-1} of pp Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector.
in Physical review letters
Aaboud M
(2018)
Search for B - L R -parity-violating top squarks in s = 13 TeV p p collisions with the ATLAS experiment
in Physical Review D
Aaboud M
(2019)
Measurements of W and Z boson production in pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s}=5.02$$ s = 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector
in The European Physical Journal C
Aaboud M
(2017)
Study of W W ? and W Z ? production in p p collisions at s = 8 TeV and search for anomalous quartic gauge couplings with the ATLAS experiment.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aaboud M
(2019)
Measurement of photon-jet transverse momentum correlations in 5.02 TeV Pb + Pb and pp collisions with ATLAS
in Physics Letters B
Aaboud M
(2017)
Analysis of the Wtb vertex from the measurement of triple-differential angular decay rates of single top quarks produced in the t-channel at s = 8 $$ \sqrt{s}=8 $$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaboud M
(2018)
Search for additional heavy neutral Higgs and gauge bosons in the ditau final state produced in 36 fb-1 of pp collisions at s = 13 $$ \sqrt{s}=13 $$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaboud M
(2017)
Fiducial, total and differential cross-section measurements of t-channel single top-quark production in pp collisions at 8 TeV using data collected by the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aaboud M
(2019)
Search for pairs of highly collimated photon-jets in p p collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Physical Review D
Aaboud M
(2017)
Measurement of the cross section for inclusive isolated-photon production in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV using the ATLAS detector
in Physics Letters B
Aaboud M
(2018)
Search for diboson resonances with boson-tagged jets in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Physics Letters B
Aaboud M
(2017)
Search for dark matter in association with a Higgs boson decaying to two photons at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Physical Review D
Aaboud M
(2018)
Evidence for the associated production of the Higgs boson and a top quark pair with the ATLAS detector
in Physical Review D
Aaboud M
(2017)
Femtoscopy with identified charged pions in proton-lead collisions at s NN = 5.02 TeV with ATLAS
in Physical Review C
Aaboud M
(2018)
Erratum to: Measurement of the W-boson mass in pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s}=7\,\hbox {TeV}$$ s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector
in The European Physical Journal C
Aaboud M
(2017)
Probing the W tb vertex structure in t-channel single-top-quark production and decay in pp collisions at s = 8 $$ \sqrt{s}=8 $$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaboud M
(2019)
Correlated long-range mixed-harmonic fluctuations measured in pp, p+Pb and low-multiplicity Pb+Pb collisions with the ATLAS detector
in Physics Letters B
Aaboud M
(2017)
Searches for the Z? decay mode of the Higgs boson and for new high-mass resonances in pp collisions at s = 13 $$ \sqrt{s}=13 $$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaboud M
(2017)
Jet reconstruction and performance using particle flow with the ATLAS Detector
in The European Physical Journal C
Aaboud M
(2017)
Measurement of multi-particle azimuthal correlations in pp, p + Pb and low-multiplicity Pb + Pb collisions with the ATLAS detector
in The European Physical Journal C
Aaboud M
(2018)
Measurement of differential cross-sections of a single top quark produced in association with a W boson at s = 13 TeV with ATLAS.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aaboud M
(2017)
Measurements of the production cross section of a [Formula: see text] boson in association with jets in pp collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aaboud M
(2018)
Search for electroweak production of supersymmetric states in scenarios with compressed mass spectra at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Physical Review D
Aaboud M
(2017)
Determination of the strong coupling constant $$\alpha _\mathrm {s}$$ a s from transverse energy-energy correlations in multijet events at $$\sqrt{s} = 8~\hbox {TeV}$$ s = 8 TeV using the ATLAS detector
in The European Physical Journal C
Aaboud M
(2018)
Search for Higgs bosons produced via vector-boson fusion and decaying into bottom quark pairs in s = 13 TeV p p collisions with the ATLAS detector
in Physical Review D
Aaboud M
(2017)
Search for new phenomena in a lepton plus high jet multiplicity final state with the ATLAS experiment using s = 13 $$ \sqrt{s}=13 $$ TeV proton-proton collision data
in Journal of High Energy Physics