2012 Consolidated Grant Supplement
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Warwick
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
The scope of the proposed research lies in five distinct areas: the physics of particles containing
the beauty quark at LHCb; the physics of neutrinos with T2K and SuperNEMO; Higgs and new phenomena searches at ATLAS; accelerator research and development for new high intensity proton, muon and neutrino beams; detector R&D. It also includes Outreach and Knowledge Exchange programmes. In more detail:
o We aim to further our research into matter/anti-matter asymmetry (CP Violation) in the decays of Beauty
mesons at the LHCb experiment. This is important, because we have shown in past experiments that
the leading source of CP violation at the weak scale is consistent with the Standard Model mechanism
of CP violation. However, cosmological considerations indicate that there should be other sources
of CP violation in Nature, so we aim to make further sensitive tests with beauty mesons, in order
to see if any evidence for additional sources of CP violation or other new physics in Nature may appear in such decays.
o The elucidation of the properties of neutrinos. These are very light, neutral particles which are
emitted, for example, by the sun, and in radioactive beta decay. They have recently been found to
oscillate, ie. transmute from one type to another, while they propagate. We have built part
of the T2K experiment which is now operating in Japan. Analyses of early data give tantalising hints of the previously unobserved oscillations of muon to electron type neutrinos. We aim to continue running this experiment, hopefully to confirm these preliminary hints. If confirmed, the largeness of the effect will offer the chance to go on to look for asymmetries between the oscillations of neutrinos and anti-neutrinos.
We further plan to contribute to the SuperNEMO experiment, which aims to determine the nature of the neutrino as so called Dirac or Majorana particle. The former has distinct anti-particles, while the latter is its own antiparticle. This question may be resolved by searching for double beta decay accompanied by no neutrinos. We will contribute to the analysis of data obtained by a "demonstrator module" attempting to observe such decays.
o We have recently joined the ATLAS experiment at CERN, a general purpose detector operating at the LHC. Our initial work will be to support the experiment by contributing to its ability to identify interesting events rapidly for recording and further analysis. We will also contribute to the search for the Higgs boson, the last missing piece in the Standard Model of particle physics. We will do this by helping to optimise the search for its decays to pairs of tau leptons, heavy relatives of the electron.
o We propose to continue our research and development of high power accelerators for the generation of proton, muon and neutrino beams. We have in mind future neutrino factories, although other machines could benefit from our research. Such neutrino factories, if built, would continue to develop the theme of research into neutrino oscillations and matter-antimatter asymmetry of neutrinos outlined above. Such machines could also bring many benefits to medicine and industry.
o We propose to continue our research and development of position- and energy-sensitive detectors
for applications in neutrino experiments and with potential spin-off applications in industry.
o We will continue to develop our outreach programme which includes activities for local schools
and articles in popular science publications.
o Supported by a strong University strategy and ethos in KE, we will continue to pursue all avenues
for possible knowledge exchange.
the beauty quark at LHCb; the physics of neutrinos with T2K and SuperNEMO; Higgs and new phenomena searches at ATLAS; accelerator research and development for new high intensity proton, muon and neutrino beams; detector R&D. It also includes Outreach and Knowledge Exchange programmes. In more detail:
o We aim to further our research into matter/anti-matter asymmetry (CP Violation) in the decays of Beauty
mesons at the LHCb experiment. This is important, because we have shown in past experiments that
the leading source of CP violation at the weak scale is consistent with the Standard Model mechanism
of CP violation. However, cosmological considerations indicate that there should be other sources
of CP violation in Nature, so we aim to make further sensitive tests with beauty mesons, in order
to see if any evidence for additional sources of CP violation or other new physics in Nature may appear in such decays.
o The elucidation of the properties of neutrinos. These are very light, neutral particles which are
emitted, for example, by the sun, and in radioactive beta decay. They have recently been found to
oscillate, ie. transmute from one type to another, while they propagate. We have built part
of the T2K experiment which is now operating in Japan. Analyses of early data give tantalising hints of the previously unobserved oscillations of muon to electron type neutrinos. We aim to continue running this experiment, hopefully to confirm these preliminary hints. If confirmed, the largeness of the effect will offer the chance to go on to look for asymmetries between the oscillations of neutrinos and anti-neutrinos.
We further plan to contribute to the SuperNEMO experiment, which aims to determine the nature of the neutrino as so called Dirac or Majorana particle. The former has distinct anti-particles, while the latter is its own antiparticle. This question may be resolved by searching for double beta decay accompanied by no neutrinos. We will contribute to the analysis of data obtained by a "demonstrator module" attempting to observe such decays.
o We have recently joined the ATLAS experiment at CERN, a general purpose detector operating at the LHC. Our initial work will be to support the experiment by contributing to its ability to identify interesting events rapidly for recording and further analysis. We will also contribute to the search for the Higgs boson, the last missing piece in the Standard Model of particle physics. We will do this by helping to optimise the search for its decays to pairs of tau leptons, heavy relatives of the electron.
o We propose to continue our research and development of high power accelerators for the generation of proton, muon and neutrino beams. We have in mind future neutrino factories, although other machines could benefit from our research. Such neutrino factories, if built, would continue to develop the theme of research into neutrino oscillations and matter-antimatter asymmetry of neutrinos outlined above. Such machines could also bring many benefits to medicine and industry.
o We propose to continue our research and development of position- and energy-sensitive detectors
for applications in neutrino experiments and with potential spin-off applications in industry.
o We will continue to develop our outreach programme which includes activities for local schools
and articles in popular science publications.
o Supported by a strong University strategy and ethos in KE, we will continue to pursue all avenues
for possible knowledge exchange.
Planned Impact
Beneficiaries of the proposed research will include:
o UK industry and academic partners from outside particle physics may benefit from the possibility of technological spin-off from hardware and/or software which we propose to develop as part of the research programme. A derivative of our research on future neutrino detectors has been the issue of two IP licenses with the target being spin-off opportunities in the area of photo-voltaic technology. Another commercial opportunity more directly aimed at UK industry might soon be realised for another invention of the detector R&D group, enabling very cost-effective large area or volume radiation sensors. These initiatives will all be supervised by Warwick Ventures - the university's professional subsidiary for commercial advancement and support. Furthermore, our work in developing innovative reconstruction methods for large-scale neutrino detectors has potential beneficiaries from a range of subjects, including mathematics, computer science biological and medical science. Local contacts to the Warwick Computer Science Department exist as well as a collaboration with the Statistics Department in Durham. Another potentially interesting partner has been identified in Systems Biology at Warwick.
o Local school children and the general public through our outreach programme will learn about cutting-edge research carried out on the building blocks of matter and their fundamental interactions, using state-of the art instrumentation. One of the most effective means of engagement in terms of audience size comes through media coverage. For aspects of our research activity that we feel the public could particularly engage with, we work with the University's Communication Office to issue press releases. This has in the past been successful in generating some rather high profile news coverage e.g. BBC Midlands Today coverage, BBC website items,
BBC Coventry and Warwickshire radio exposure as well as university video content organised by the Communications Office. Members of our group will continue to regularly publicise our science through engagements such as public lectures and talks to local clubs and societies. We will also continue to foster and develop close ties with local schools through: our annual Masterclass initiative, hosting local students as part of the Aimhigher initiative, supervising students for summer holiday placements (e.g. as part of the Gold Crest scheme), activities associated with the STEMNET Science and Engineering Ambassadors (e.g. contributions science fairs and exhibitions) and participation in the`I'm a scientist - get me out of here' events.
During the next grants period, we plan a tighter coordination of both the scope and frequency of press releases showcasing our work. Schools liaison will continue to develop with more emphasis placed on interaction with teachers - an area which has received a boost through the recent appointment of a dedicated Ogden Teaching Fellow for the Warwick Physics Department. This year, our group were part of a successful bid to STFC for a Science in Society Small Award to purchase a mobile dome which can be used as a resource to publicise our research. We will work to develop particle physics content for the dome for use on public occasions such as university open days, but also to expand our outreach activities e.g. into primary schools.
o Our post-graduate students currently enjoy access to a diverse range of key-skills training courses laid on by the University. In the future we plan to further exploit opportunities that exist within the University, for joint studentships with industrial partners where the results of research would find an immediate commercial application and would provide students with first-hand industrial/commercial experience. This will benefit industry, gaining access to well-trained people who can help them with tasks such as data mining and modelling, which are of increasing importance.
o UK industry and academic partners from outside particle physics may benefit from the possibility of technological spin-off from hardware and/or software which we propose to develop as part of the research programme. A derivative of our research on future neutrino detectors has been the issue of two IP licenses with the target being spin-off opportunities in the area of photo-voltaic technology. Another commercial opportunity more directly aimed at UK industry might soon be realised for another invention of the detector R&D group, enabling very cost-effective large area or volume radiation sensors. These initiatives will all be supervised by Warwick Ventures - the university's professional subsidiary for commercial advancement and support. Furthermore, our work in developing innovative reconstruction methods for large-scale neutrino detectors has potential beneficiaries from a range of subjects, including mathematics, computer science biological and medical science. Local contacts to the Warwick Computer Science Department exist as well as a collaboration with the Statistics Department in Durham. Another potentially interesting partner has been identified in Systems Biology at Warwick.
o Local school children and the general public through our outreach programme will learn about cutting-edge research carried out on the building blocks of matter and their fundamental interactions, using state-of the art instrumentation. One of the most effective means of engagement in terms of audience size comes through media coverage. For aspects of our research activity that we feel the public could particularly engage with, we work with the University's Communication Office to issue press releases. This has in the past been successful in generating some rather high profile news coverage e.g. BBC Midlands Today coverage, BBC website items,
BBC Coventry and Warwickshire radio exposure as well as university video content organised by the Communications Office. Members of our group will continue to regularly publicise our science through engagements such as public lectures and talks to local clubs and societies. We will also continue to foster and develop close ties with local schools through: our annual Masterclass initiative, hosting local students as part of the Aimhigher initiative, supervising students for summer holiday placements (e.g. as part of the Gold Crest scheme), activities associated with the STEMNET Science and Engineering Ambassadors (e.g. contributions science fairs and exhibitions) and participation in the`I'm a scientist - get me out of here' events.
During the next grants period, we plan a tighter coordination of both the scope and frequency of press releases showcasing our work. Schools liaison will continue to develop with more emphasis placed on interaction with teachers - an area which has received a boost through the recent appointment of a dedicated Ogden Teaching Fellow for the Warwick Physics Department. This year, our group were part of a successful bid to STFC for a Science in Society Small Award to purchase a mobile dome which can be used as a resource to publicise our research. We will work to develop particle physics content for the dome for use on public occasions such as university open days, but also to expand our outreach activities e.g. into primary schools.
o Our post-graduate students currently enjoy access to a diverse range of key-skills training courses laid on by the University. In the future we plan to further exploit opportunities that exist within the University, for joint studentships with industrial partners where the results of research would find an immediate commercial application and would provide students with first-hand industrial/commercial experience. This will benefit industry, gaining access to well-trained people who can help them with tasks such as data mining and modelling, which are of increasing importance.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Paul Harrison (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Gabor C
(2012)
H- beam transport experiments in a solenoid low energy beam transport.
in The Review of scientific instruments
Lawrie SR
(2014)
Development of the front end test stand and vessel for extraction and source plasma analyses negative hydrogen ion sources at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.
in The Review of scientific instruments
Gabor C
(2014)
Matching an H(-) beam into a radio frequency quadrupole at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.
in The Review of scientific instruments
Gabor C
(2012)
H- beam transport experiments in a solenoid low energy beam transport.
in The Review of scientific instruments
ATLAS Collaboration
(2014)
The differential production cross section of the [Formula: see text](1020) meson in [Formula: see text] = 7 TeV [Formula: see text] collisions measured with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Atlas Collaboration
(2016)
Search for an additional, heavy Higgs boson in the [Formula: see text] decay channel at [Formula: see text] in [Formula: see text] collision data with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2015)
Search for a new resonance decaying to a W or Z boson and a Higgs boson in the [Formula: see text] final states with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2015)
Search for invisible decays of the Higgs boson produced in association with a hadronically decaying vector boson in pp collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2012)
Search for lepton flavour violation in the eµ continuum with the ATLAS detector in [Formula: see text]pp collisions at the LHC.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2014)
Measurement of the muon reconstruction performance of the ATLAS detector using 2011 and 2012 LHC proton-proton collision data.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2013)
Improved luminosity determination in pp collisions at [Formula: see text] using the ATLAS detector at the LHC.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2015)
Study of the spin and parity of the Higgs boson in diboson decays with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
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
ATLAS Collaboration
(2012)
Measurement of t polarization in W?t? decays with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at [Formula: see text].
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2015)
Search for heavy long-lived multi-charged particles in pp collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV using the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2013)
Measurement of kT splitting scales in W?l? events at [Formula: see text] with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2014)
A measurement of the ratio of the production cross sections for [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] bosons in association with jets with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2014)
Measurements of jet vetoes and azimuthal decorrelations in dijet events produced in [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text] using the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Poluektov A
(2018)
Unbinned model-independent measurements with coherent admixtures of multibody neutral D meson decays.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
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
(2013)
Multi-channel search for squarks and gluinos in [Formula: see text]pp collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Atlas Collaboration
(2016)
Measurement of the charge asymmetry in top-quark pair production in the lepton-plus-jets final state in pp collision data at [Formula: see text] with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Atlas Collaboration
(2016)
Search for direct top squark pair production in final states with two tau leptons in pp collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2016)
Search for flavour-changing neutral current top-quark decays to [Formula: see text] in [Formula: see text] collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at [Formula: see text] TeV.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2015)
ATLAS Run 1 searches for direct pair production of third-generation squarks at the Large Hadron Collider.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2012)
A search for [Formula: see text] resonances with the ATLAS detector in 2.05 fb-1 of proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text].
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2016)
Measurements of the Higgs boson production and decay rates and coupling strengths using pp collision data at [Formula: see text] and 8 TeV in the ATLAS experiment.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2014)
Measurement of the centrality and pseudorapidity dependence of the integrated elliptic flow in lead-lead collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2014)
Measurement of distributions sensitive to the underlying event in inclusive Z-boson production in [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
LHCb Collaboration
(2013)
Measurement of the forward energy flow in pp collisions at [Formula: see text].
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2015)
Measurement of the top quark mass in the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] channels using [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] ATLAS data.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2014)
Muon reconstruction efficiency and momentum resolution of the ATLAS experiment in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV in 2010.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2015)
Two-particle Bose-Einstein correlations in pp collisions at [Formula: see text] 0.9 and 7 TeV measured with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2013)
Measurement of jet shapes in top-quark pair events at [Formula: see text] using the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2014)
Electron reconstruction and identification efficiency measurements with the ATLAS detector using the 2011 LHC proton-proton collision data.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2014)
Measurement of flow harmonics with multi-particle cumulants in Pb+Pb collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
LHCb Collaboration
(2013)
Measurements of the branching fractions of [Formula: see text] decays.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2013)
Measurement of the [Formula: see text] production cross section in the tau + jets channel using the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2013)
Jet energy resolution in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text] recorded in 2010 with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2014)
Measurement of the [Formula: see text] production cross-section using [Formula: see text] events with [Formula: see text]-tagged jets in [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text] and 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2014)
Light-quark and gluon jet discrimination in [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text] with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2015)
Search for Higgs boson pair production in the [Formula: see text] final state from pp collisions at [Formula: see text] TeVwith the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2016)
Study of the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] decays with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
LHCb Collaboration
(2013)
Measurement of J/? polarization in pp collisions at [Formula: see text].
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2013)
Measurement of the inclusive jet cross-section in pp collisions at [Formula: see text] and comparison to the inclusive jet cross-section at [Formula: see text] using the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2015)
Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at [Formula: see text]TeV with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2014)
Search for direct top squark pair production in events with a [Formula: see text] boson, [Formula: see text]-jets and missing transverse momentum in [Formula: see text] TeV [Formula: see text] collisions with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
ATLAS Collaboration
(2016)
Searches for scalar leptoquarks in pp collisions at [Formula: see text] = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aad G
(2016)
Measurements of fiducial cross-sections for [Formula: see text] production with one or two additional b-jets in pp collisions at [Formula: see text]=8 TeV using the ATLAS detector.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Description | We have made many key measurements in B physics. we have made detailed studies of the Higgs boson, and excluded large areas of parameter space in beyond Standard Model physics. We have made measurements of neutrino oscillations. |
Exploitation Route | . |
Sectors | Education |
Description | We have designed photovoltaic trees as an application of GEANT 4. |
First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
Title | Review of Particle Properties |
Description | This is a globally-accessible database of all particle physics results. Many results of this research have entered into this database and several members of my team have directly contributed to this database. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2009 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | This database is the research Bible for particle physics. It is universally used and accepted within the particle physics community and is without peer. |
URL | http://pdg.lbl.gov |
Title | LAURA++ Package |
Description | C++ Package for Dalitz plot generation and fitting |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2013 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | Use in other particle physics experiments |
URL | https://laura.hepforge.org |
Description | Warwick Particle Physics Masterclass |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | 50-60 Warwickshire sixth form students and their teachers attended Very positive feedback both directly and from questionaire forms |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019 |