Oxford Consolidated Grant Application 2012
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Oxford Physics
Abstract
Particle physics seeks to understand the Universe and its evolution in terms of the interplay of elementary particles (the quarks and leptons) the fundamental forces (the strong, electromagnetic, and weak forces and gravity) and the force-particles that mediate them (photons, W/Z, gluons and gravitons). The last thirty years has seen the development of a robust and extremely successful theoretical framework, known as the Standard Model, in which almost all of the available particle-physics data can be explained. However, whilst this is a beautiful theory, the model is incomplete since it doesn't completely explain the world that we see around us. Oxford's research programme will advance significantly our understanding of whatever "new-physics" theory will emerge to replace the Standard Model, and will guide the theoretical work to develop it.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is now running at the energy frontier of high-energy physics, and reproduces the conditions within milliseconds of the Big Bang. Oxford plays a major role in the detector operation and the extraction of physics results from both the ATLAS and LHCb experiments. These experiments have the potential to completely revolutionise our understanding of particle physics. In ATLAS, Oxford physicists are searching for the elusive "Higgs particle", whose field is believed to be responsible for giving mass to the Universe. We are also searching for particles having "supersymmetry" (SUSY), a theory that would provide a solution to the "dark-matter" that makes up a large fraction of the Universe; ATLAS is also searching for extra dimensions. Oxford physicists on the LHCb experiment strive for a better understanding of the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe, by studying subtle differences in the behaviour of quarks and antiquarks - "CP-violation".
Over the next decade, the LHC will upgrade to higher energy and intensity, and so detector improvements are being prepared for both ATLAS and LHCb. The upgraded detectors will take particle physics to an unprecedented limit of sensitivity for the inevitable new-physics observations. Throughout our work we are enabling powerful computing resources and analysis tools that are necessary for the extraction of vast volumes of data.
We participate in high-precision experiments which are complementary to the large experiments at the LHC. The EDELWEISS experiment is exploring some of the most important questions in particle physics and cosmology; in particular the direct search for dark matter, a candidate being the lightest SUSY particle. Similarly the nEDM experiment will measure the neutron electric dipole moment down to unprecedented precision, and which will also complement measurements of CP-violation from the LHCb experiment.
Through the T2K experiment in Japan and projects still at their inception, Oxford physicists aim for a better understanding the elusive neutrino, and in particular its "oscillation" from one flavour to another. The SNO+ experiment will measure other fundamental properties of the neutrino, such as whether or not it is its own antiparticle. We already have made some Standard Model measurements to great precision in the CDF and ZEUS experiments - such as the mass of the weak-force carrier, the W boson, and the detailed structure of the proton. These results will be carried forward to LHC analyses, illustrating the power and importance of experimental evolution.
Throughout our research, Oxford will continue to develop and enhance our capabilities in mechanical and electronic design so that we will retain the ability to construct the most sophisticated apparatus of whatever size may be required for our physics objectives. We are determined to retain our world-leading role for scientific excellence and major state-of-the-art detector construction in particle physics for the future. These are exciting times for particle physics, and Oxford are determined to play a major role.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is now running at the energy frontier of high-energy physics, and reproduces the conditions within milliseconds of the Big Bang. Oxford plays a major role in the detector operation and the extraction of physics results from both the ATLAS and LHCb experiments. These experiments have the potential to completely revolutionise our understanding of particle physics. In ATLAS, Oxford physicists are searching for the elusive "Higgs particle", whose field is believed to be responsible for giving mass to the Universe. We are also searching for particles having "supersymmetry" (SUSY), a theory that would provide a solution to the "dark-matter" that makes up a large fraction of the Universe; ATLAS is also searching for extra dimensions. Oxford physicists on the LHCb experiment strive for a better understanding of the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe, by studying subtle differences in the behaviour of quarks and antiquarks - "CP-violation".
Over the next decade, the LHC will upgrade to higher energy and intensity, and so detector improvements are being prepared for both ATLAS and LHCb. The upgraded detectors will take particle physics to an unprecedented limit of sensitivity for the inevitable new-physics observations. Throughout our work we are enabling powerful computing resources and analysis tools that are necessary for the extraction of vast volumes of data.
We participate in high-precision experiments which are complementary to the large experiments at the LHC. The EDELWEISS experiment is exploring some of the most important questions in particle physics and cosmology; in particular the direct search for dark matter, a candidate being the lightest SUSY particle. Similarly the nEDM experiment will measure the neutron electric dipole moment down to unprecedented precision, and which will also complement measurements of CP-violation from the LHCb experiment.
Through the T2K experiment in Japan and projects still at their inception, Oxford physicists aim for a better understanding the elusive neutrino, and in particular its "oscillation" from one flavour to another. The SNO+ experiment will measure other fundamental properties of the neutrino, such as whether or not it is its own antiparticle. We already have made some Standard Model measurements to great precision in the CDF and ZEUS experiments - such as the mass of the weak-force carrier, the W boson, and the detailed structure of the proton. These results will be carried forward to LHC analyses, illustrating the power and importance of experimental evolution.
Throughout our research, Oxford will continue to develop and enhance our capabilities in mechanical and electronic design so that we will retain the ability to construct the most sophisticated apparatus of whatever size may be required for our physics objectives. We are determined to retain our world-leading role for scientific excellence and major state-of-the-art detector construction in particle physics for the future. These are exciting times for particle physics, and Oxford are determined to play a major role.
Planned Impact
Curiosity-driven research has been shown many times to be a key factor in producing high-impact applications that break the paradigm rather than contribute to incremental improvements. The research in this proposal contributes to the possibility that, by working at the cutting edge of new technologies, significant developments of benefit to a far wider community can be produced. Our current portfolio gives examples of such applications and we fully expect that others will develop during the period of this grant.
Our research into detectors and sensors has applications in many other fields. The PImMS project is developing fast, silicon detectors from particle physics into pixelated sensors for imaging of low-energy ions. Patents have been granted and a project with industry is underway to develop a new, high-throughput, mass spectrometer. Work on scintillator technology for neutrino projects is now offering benefits for the security sector: the MARS project is underway to develop sensitive detectors for neutrons and anti-neutrinos for security and non-proliferation applications. Detection of magnetic fields for measurements of the electric dipole moment of the neutron (nEDM project) is improving the immunity of SQUID magnetometers to extraneous RF electromagnetic radiation. This will find wider application, e.g. in geophysics, where sensitive measurements are required. The need to optimise light-collection efficiency in the SNO experiment has led to a collaborative project designing a low-cost solar concentrator that could be used as part of a generator in the developing world.
Our research also continues to operate under very significant constraints such as low mass, size or conductivity and the solutions we develop, often in close collaboration with our design and fabrication workshops, will have applications in entirely different fields. Indeed our workshops have capabilities beyond normal commercial offerings and are themselves fulfilling industrial contracts. The metrology demands of particle and accelerator physics are also intense and drive advances that have wider application. Frequency-scanning interferometry technology originally from ATLAS and the ILC is now being developed for wider use through an industrial partner, while the related analysis software is also expected to be integrated into a commercial package.
Oxford's develoments in cloud computing for particle physics analysis, requiring security, ease of deployment and appropriate compilers, have already led to distribution of free software, a spin-out company, eMediaTrack Ltd, and their use in data-processing projects as diverse as healthcare, insurance and radio astronomy. The potential for improvement in energy efficiency via distributed computing is huge. The underlying emulator software is extending the accessibility of legacy code and has been used to teach programming in Indo-Aryan languages.
Both the methods and outcomes of our research attract great public interest and our outreach programmes involve schoolchildren, the general public and policymakers in appreciating how our understanding of the universe is advancing and the role of projects such as the LHC. Our schools activities help attract students to study physics at university and are being supplemented by novel approaches such as the LHSee smartphone application, and other educational resources we are developing. The Superstrings and Einstein's Universe lectures, bringing together particle physics, cosmology and music, have attracted critical acclaim and interest from communities outside science and will continue to develop with lectures based on new commissioned compositions for performance from 2012. Our talks and events for the wider public aim to make our science more accessible and to encourage interest in new results from our experiments as they are announced. The huge media interest in early data on the Higgs in December 2011 is indicative of significant success in this endeavour.
Our research into detectors and sensors has applications in many other fields. The PImMS project is developing fast, silicon detectors from particle physics into pixelated sensors for imaging of low-energy ions. Patents have been granted and a project with industry is underway to develop a new, high-throughput, mass spectrometer. Work on scintillator technology for neutrino projects is now offering benefits for the security sector: the MARS project is underway to develop sensitive detectors for neutrons and anti-neutrinos for security and non-proliferation applications. Detection of magnetic fields for measurements of the electric dipole moment of the neutron (nEDM project) is improving the immunity of SQUID magnetometers to extraneous RF electromagnetic radiation. This will find wider application, e.g. in geophysics, where sensitive measurements are required. The need to optimise light-collection efficiency in the SNO experiment has led to a collaborative project designing a low-cost solar concentrator that could be used as part of a generator in the developing world.
Our research also continues to operate under very significant constraints such as low mass, size or conductivity and the solutions we develop, often in close collaboration with our design and fabrication workshops, will have applications in entirely different fields. Indeed our workshops have capabilities beyond normal commercial offerings and are themselves fulfilling industrial contracts. The metrology demands of particle and accelerator physics are also intense and drive advances that have wider application. Frequency-scanning interferometry technology originally from ATLAS and the ILC is now being developed for wider use through an industrial partner, while the related analysis software is also expected to be integrated into a commercial package.
Oxford's develoments in cloud computing for particle physics analysis, requiring security, ease of deployment and appropriate compilers, have already led to distribution of free software, a spin-out company, eMediaTrack Ltd, and their use in data-processing projects as diverse as healthcare, insurance and radio astronomy. The potential for improvement in energy efficiency via distributed computing is huge. The underlying emulator software is extending the accessibility of legacy code and has been used to teach programming in Indo-Aryan languages.
Both the methods and outcomes of our research attract great public interest and our outreach programmes involve schoolchildren, the general public and policymakers in appreciating how our understanding of the universe is advancing and the role of projects such as the LHC. Our schools activities help attract students to study physics at university and are being supplemented by novel approaches such as the LHSee smartphone application, and other educational resources we are developing. The Superstrings and Einstein's Universe lectures, bringing together particle physics, cosmology and music, have attracted critical acclaim and interest from communities outside science and will continue to develop with lectures based on new commissioned compositions for performance from 2012. Our talks and events for the wider public aim to make our science more accessible and to encourage interest in new results from our experiments as they are announced. The huge media interest in early data on the Higgs in December 2011 is indicative of significant success in this endeavour.
Organisations
Publications
Aad G
(2015)
Search for pair-produced long-lived neutral particles decaying to jets in the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter in pp collisions at s = 8 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Aad G
(2015)
Constraints on new phenomena via Higgs boson couplings and invisible decays with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aad G
(2015)
Search for low-scale gravity signatures in multi-jet final states with the ATLAS detector at s = 8 $$ \sqrt{s}=8 $$ TeV
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2015)
Study of the rare B s 0 and B0 decays into the p+p-µ+µ- final state
in Physics Letters B
Hans S
(2015)
Purification of telluric acid for SNO+ neutrinoless double-beta decay search
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
ATLAS Collaboration
(2015)
Search for dark matter in events with heavy quarks and missing transverse momentum in [Formula: see text] collisions with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2015)
Search for invisible particles produced in association with single-top-quarks in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text] with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aaij R
(2015)
Search for CP violation in D 0 ? p - p + p 0 decays with the energy test
in Physics Letters B
Aaij R
(2015)
Angular analysis and differential branching fraction of the decay B s 0 ? ?µ + µ -
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Collaboration T
(2015)
Modelling Z ? tt processes in ATLAS with t-embedded Z ? µµ data
in Journal of Instrumentation
Aad G
(2015)
Measurement of the inclusive jet cross-section in proton-proton collisions at s = 7 $$ \sqrt{s}=7 $$ TeV using 4.5 fb-1 of data with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2015)
Measurement of the ratio of branching fractions B(B[over ¯]^{0}?D^{*+}t^{-}?[over ¯]_{t})/B(B[over ¯]^{0}?D^{*+}µ^{-}?[over ¯]_{µ}).
in Physical review letters
Aaij R
(2015)
Measurement of CP violation parameters and polarisation fractions in B s 0 ? J / ? K ¯ * 0 $$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{s}}^0\to \mathrm{J}/\psi {\overline{\mathrm{K}}}^{\ast 0} $$ decays
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aad G
(2015)
Searches for Higgs boson pair production in the h h ? b b t t , ? ? W W * , ? ? b b , b b b b channels with the ATLAS detector
in Physical Review D
Aad G
(2015)
Search for type-III seesaw heavy leptons in p p collisions at s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Physical Review D
Aad G
(2015)
Search for new phenomena in events with three or more charged leptons in pp collisions at s = 8 $$ \sqrt{s}=8 $$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aad G
(2015)
Summary of the searches for squarks and gluinos using s = 8 $$ \sqrt{s}=8 $$ TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2015)
Measurement of Bc+ Production in Proton-Proton Collisions at v[s]=8 TeV.
in Physical review letters
Aad G
(2015)
Measurement of colour flow with the jet pull angle in t t ¯ events using the ATLAS detector at s = 8 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Aad G
(2015)
Search for New Phenomena in Dijet Angular Distributions in Proton-Proton Collisions at s = 8 TeV Measured with the ATLAS Detector
in Physical Review Letters
Aad G
(2015)
Determination of the top-quark pole mass using t t ¯ $$ t\overline{t} $$ + 1-jet events collected with the ATLAS experiment in 7 TeV pp collisions
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aad G
(2015)
Measurement of the branching ratio G ( ? b 0 ? ? ( 2 S ) ? 0 ) / G ( ? b 0 ? J / ? ? 0 ) with the ATLAS detector
in Physics Letters B
Aad G
(2015)
Search for a CP-odd Higgs boson decaying to Zh in pp collisions at s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Physics Letters B
Aad G
(2015)
Search for flavour-changing neutral current top quark decays t ? Hq in pp collisions at s = 8 $$ \sqrt{s}=8 $$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2015)
Study of ? - ?' mixing from measurement of B (s) 0 ? J/??(') decay rates
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaltonen T
(2015)
Study of the energy dependence of the underlying event in proton-antiproton collisions
in Physical Review D
Collaboration T
(2015)
Identification of beauty and charm quark jets at LHCb
in Journal of Instrumentation
Chang Q
(2015)
$${B_s^0}$$ B s 0 - $${\bar{B}}_s^0$$ B ¯ s 0 mixing within minimal flavor-violating two-Higgs-doublet models
in The European Physical Journal C
Aaij R
(2015)
First measurement of the differential branching fraction and CP asymmetry of the B ± ? p ± µ + µ - decay
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2015)
Precision measurement of CP violation in B(S)(0)?J/?K+K- decays.
in Physical review letters
Aaij R
(2015)
Measurement of the CP -violating phase ß in B 0 ? J / ? p + p - decays and limits on penguin effects
in Physics Letters B
Aad G
(2015)
Search for direct pair production of a chargino and a neutralino decaying to the 125 GeV Higgs boson in [Formula: see text] TeV [Formula: see text] collisions with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Atlas Collaboration
(2015)
Jet energy measurement and its systematic uncertainty in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2015)
Search for metastable heavy charged particles with large ionisation energy loss in pp collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV using the ATLAS experiment.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2015)
Measurement of the charge asymmetry in dileptonic decays of top quark pairs in pp collisions at s = 7 $$ \sqrt{s}=7 $$ TeV using the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2015)
Measurement of the inelastic pp cross-section at a centre-of-mass energy of s $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 7 TeV
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aad G
(2015)
Study of (W/Z)H production and Higgs boson couplings using H? W W * decays with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Mikhailik V
(2015)
Temperature dependence of scintillation properties of SrMoO4
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Aaij R
(2015)
Search for the rare decays B 0 ? J / ? ? and B s 0 ? J / ? ?
in Physical Review D
Aaij R
(2015)
Observation of the B(s)(0)??'?' Decay.
in Physical review letters
Abramowicz H
(2015)
Combination of measurements of inclusive deep inelastic $${e^{\pm }p}$$ e ± p scattering cross sections and QCD analysis of HERA data H1 and ZEUS Collaborations
in The European Physical Journal C
ATLAS Collaboration
(2015)
Constraints on the off-shell Higgs boson signal strength in the high-mass ZZ and WW final states with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2015)
Search for anomalous production of prompt same-sign lepton pairs and pair-produced doubly charged Higgs bosons with s = 8 $$ \sqrt{s}=8 $$ TeV pp collisions using the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Rojo J
(2015)
The PDF4LHC report on PDFs and LHC data: results from Run I and preparation for Run II
in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics
Aad G
(2015)
Measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry of electron and muon pair-production in pp collisions at s = 7 $$ \sqrt{s}=7 $$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Gershon T
(2015)
Contributions to the width difference in the neutral D system from hadronic decays
in Physics Letters B
Aad G
(2015)
Centrality and rapidity dependence of inclusive jet production in s NN = 5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector
in Physics Letters B
Description | The Oxford consolidated grant has lead to world-class research including measuring Higgs, CP-violation and neutrino mixing measurements. Pentaquarks have been discoved in LHCb. The properties of the Higgs boson have been established with ATLAS. This has resulted in outstanding fundamental physics knowledge for mankind. The Oxford group have lead Research and Development programmes for current and future experiments. |
Exploitation Route | Scientific knowledge produced by the Oxford Consolidated Grant is a legacy for mankind. Research and Development on silicon detectors, low mass structures and photon detectors have industrial and commercial applications. |
Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Electronics Energy Environment Healthcare Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Security and Diplomacy |
Description | The Oxford consolidated grant has lead to world-class research including measuring Higgs properties, CP-violation and neutrino mixing measurements. This has resulted in outstanding fundamental physics knowledge for mankind. Research and Development for current and future experiments have applications in sensor and lightweight structures development (ATLAS), information technology (GRID computing), medical physics (LHCb and TORCH), and national security (MARS project). |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Electronics,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Security and Diplomacy |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal Economic |