The study of elementary particles and their interactions
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
This grant is to continue the group's 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 the LHC experiments which will be taking data during the period of this grant. The CMS experiment will continue to measure the Higgs particle, following its successful discovery in 2012. It will also be able to cover completely new areas of parameter space in searches for SUSY and other new phenomena such as finding evidence of potential dark matter candidates. The LHCb experiment will offer complementary tests of the Standard Model and beyond with the ability to look for extremely rare decays in flavour physics and to measure CP asymmetries in the decays of B mesons, both of which are sensitive to contributions from new physics. These experiments will make extensive use of Grid computing which the group will continue to develop and exploit, both for the LHC and for other experiments. The group will also be active in preparing the next generation of detectors for the high luminosity upgrade of the LHC.
The T2K experiment will allow us to expand our understanding of the masses and mixings in the neutrino sector, and should provide key measurements which will guide us as to whether we ultimately could see evidence of CP violation in the neutrino sector. One of the other missing pieces of the neutrino puzzle is whether the neutrino is its own antiparticle. We are preparing the SuperNEMO experiment to attempt to determine if the neutrino is a Majorana particle and first data-taking will occur during the grant. Heavy neutrino-like particles are predicted in several new physics models and we are starting preparations for the SHiP experiment to search for these new particles.
The group will be active in several experiments specifically searching for new physics. Direct conversion of muons to electrons is heavily suppressed in the Standard Model so any observation of this process would be a major discovery. The COMET experiment is searching for this process and will take data during the grant. Similarly, a measurable electric dipole moment for the electron could only arise through new physics and the eEDM experiment will continue to push down the limits for such an effect. Around a quarter of the universe is composed of dark matter and its nature is unknown. This has so far remained undetected in the laboratory and the group will continue its activity in searching for direct evidence of a dark matter candidate through the LUX and later LUX-ZEPLIN experiments.
Accelerators to produce muon beams will be needed for future neutrino and muon collider experiments. The group is continuing its research in this area through the MICE experiment and nuSTORM studies. Proton beams also have potential applications for other scientific fields and for healthcare, and the group is studying how to apply these techniques in these areas. Understanding the LHC in terms of phenomenology is critical to comparing data to theory and the group is very active in this area.
One of the main objectives of this grant will be to support the exploitation of the LHC experiments which will be taking data during the period of this grant. The CMS experiment will continue to measure the Higgs particle, following its successful discovery in 2012. It will also be able to cover completely new areas of parameter space in searches for SUSY and other new phenomena such as finding evidence of potential dark matter candidates. The LHCb experiment will offer complementary tests of the Standard Model and beyond with the ability to look for extremely rare decays in flavour physics and to measure CP asymmetries in the decays of B mesons, both of which are sensitive to contributions from new physics. These experiments will make extensive use of Grid computing which the group will continue to develop and exploit, both for the LHC and for other experiments. The group will also be active in preparing the next generation of detectors for the high luminosity upgrade of the LHC.
The T2K experiment will allow us to expand our understanding of the masses and mixings in the neutrino sector, and should provide key measurements which will guide us as to whether we ultimately could see evidence of CP violation in the neutrino sector. One of the other missing pieces of the neutrino puzzle is whether the neutrino is its own antiparticle. We are preparing the SuperNEMO experiment to attempt to determine if the neutrino is a Majorana particle and first data-taking will occur during the grant. Heavy neutrino-like particles are predicted in several new physics models and we are starting preparations for the SHiP experiment to search for these new particles.
The group will be active in several experiments specifically searching for new physics. Direct conversion of muons to electrons is heavily suppressed in the Standard Model so any observation of this process would be a major discovery. The COMET experiment is searching for this process and will take data during the grant. Similarly, a measurable electric dipole moment for the electron could only arise through new physics and the eEDM experiment will continue to push down the limits for such an effect. Around a quarter of the universe is composed of dark matter and its nature is unknown. This has so far remained undetected in the laboratory and the group will continue its activity in searching for direct evidence of a dark matter candidate through the LUX and later LUX-ZEPLIN experiments.
Accelerators to produce muon beams will be needed for future neutrino and muon collider experiments. The group is continuing its research in this area through the MICE experiment and nuSTORM studies. Proton beams also have potential applications for other scientific fields and for healthcare, and the group is studying how to apply these techniques in these areas. Understanding the LHC in terms of phenomenology is critical to comparing data to theory and the group is very active in this area.
Planned Impact
While much of the research described in this grant is exploring fundamental questions where the immediate impact implications of discoveries can take decades to unfold, there are many examples of areas where technology developed in the pursuit of discoveries can have a more immediate impact. The group has potential impact in several key areas; training, outreach, transfer of HEP technology and ideas, and transfer and development of accelerator technology. These reach a diverse audience ranging from schoolchildren to cancer practitioners to neutron source users. See the submitted "Pathways To Impact" document for further details.
Organisations
Publications
Virdee T
(2015)
The Voyage of Discovery of the Higgs Boson at the LHC
in Annalen der Physik
Aaij R
(2016)
Search for Violations of Lorentz Invariance and CPT Symmetry in B_{(s)}^{0} Mixing.
in Physical review letters
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Measurements of t t ¯ spin correlations and top quark polarization using dilepton final states in p p collisions at s = 8 TeV
in Physical Review D
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Search for Resonant Production of High-Mass Photon Pairs in Proton-Proton Collisions at sqrt[s]=8 and 13 TeV.
in Physical review letters
Akerib DS
(2016)
Results on the Spin-Dependent Scattering of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles on Nucleons from the Run 3 Data of the LUX Experiment.
in Physical review letters
Aaij R
(2016)
Measurement of forward W and Z boson production in association with jets in proton-proton collisions at s = 8 $$ \sqrt{s}=8 $$ TeV
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2016)
Measurement of the CKM angle ? using B 0 ? DK *0 with D ? K S 0 p + p - decays
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Cotter JP
(2016)
Design and fabrication of diffractive atom chips for laser cooling and trapping.
in Applied physics. B, Lasers and optics
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Search for Narrow Resonances Decaying to Dijets in Proton-Proton Collisions at v[s]=13 TeV.
in Physical review letters
Aaij R
(2016)
Observations of ? b 0 ? ?K +p- and ? b 0 ? ?K + K - decays and searches for other ? b 0 and ? b 0 decays to ?h + h'- final states
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2016)
Search for Structure in the B_{s}^{0}p^{±} Invariant Mass Spectrum.
in Physical review letters
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Search for a low-mass pseudoscalar Higgs boson produced in association with a b b ? pair in pp collisions at s = 8 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Aaij R
(2016)
Study of ?(2S) production and cold nuclear matter effects in pPb collisions at s N N = 5 $$ \sqrt{s_{N\;N}}=5 $$ TeV
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Measurement of electroweak production of a W boson and two forward jets in proton-proton collisions at s = 8 $$ \sqrt{s}=8 $$ TeV
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Search for supersymmetry in electroweak production with photons and large missing transverse energy in pp collisions at s = 8 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Aaij R
(2016)
First observation of the decay D0?K-p+µ+µ- in the ?0-? region of the dimuon mass spectrum
in Physics Letters B
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Search for long-lived charged particles in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV
in Physical Review D
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Search for supersymmetry in pp collisions at s = 13 $$ \sqrt{s}=13 $$ TeV in the single-lepton final state using the sum of masses of large-radius jets
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Armano M
(2016)
Sub-Femto-g Free Fall for Space-Based Gravitational Wave Observatories: LISA Pathfinder Results.
in Physical review letters
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Measurement of top quark polarisation in t-channel single top quark production
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Measurement of inclusive jet production and nuclear modifications in pPb collisions at [Formula: see text].
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Event generator tunes obtained from underlying event and multiparton scattering measurements.
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Rabey IM
(2016)
Low magnetic Johnson noise electric field plates for precision measurement.
in The Review of scientific instruments
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Measurement of the Z ? ? ? ? ? ? production cross section in pp collisions at s = 8 TeV and limits on anomalous ZZ? and Z?? trilinear gauge boson couplings
in Physics Letters B
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Search for massive WH resonances decaying into the [Formula: see text] final state at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text].
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Aaij R
(2016)
Measurement of the properties of the ? b * 0 baryon
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Polisseni C
(2016)
Stable, single-photon emitter in a thin organic crystal for application to quantum-photonic devices.
in Optics express
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Measurement of the inelastic cross section in proton-lead collisions at s NN = 5.02 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Virdee TS
(2016)
Beyond the standard model of particle physics.
in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Aaij R
(2016)
Constraints on the unitarity triangle angle ? from Dalitz plot analysis of B 0 ? D K + p - decays
in Physical Review D
Akerib D
(2016)
Tritium calibration of the LUX dark matter experiment
in Physical Review D
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Searches for a heavy scalar boson H decaying to a pair of 125 GeV Higgs bosons hh or for a heavy pseudoscalar boson A decaying to Zh, in the final states with h ?tt
in Physics Letters B
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Search for supersymmetry in the multijet and missing transverse momentum final state in pp collisions at 13 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Measurement of the differential cross sections for top quark pair production as a function of kinematic event variables in p p collisions at s = 7 and 8 TeV
in Physical Review D
Aaij R
(2016)
Model-Independent Evidence for J/?p Contributions to ?_{b}^{0}?J/?pK^{-} Decays.
in Physical review letters
Aaij R
(2016)
Search for the lepton-flavour violating decay D0?e±µ±
in Physics Letters B
Akerib D
(2016)
FPGA-based trigger system for the LUX dark matter experiment
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Aaij R
(2016)
Amplitude analysis of B - ? D + p - p - decays
in Physical Review D
Lien YH
(2016)
Observing coherence effects in an overdamped quantum system.
in Nature communications
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Measurement of the top quark mass using charged particles in p p collisions at s = 8 TeV
in Physical Review D
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Search for vectorlike charge 2 / 3 T quarks in proton-proton collisions at ( s ) = 8 TeV
in Physical Review D
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Combined search for anomalous pseudoscalar HVV couplings in VH ( H ? b b ? ) production and H ? VV decay
in Physics Letters B
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Search for lepton flavour violating decays of heavy resonances and quantum black holes to an [Formula: see text] pair in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text].
in The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields
Akerib DS
(2016)
Improved Limits on Scattering of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles from Reanalysis of 2013 LUX Data.
in Physical review letters
Khachatryan V
(2016)
A search for pair production of new light bosons decaying into muons
in Physics Letters B
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Measurement of the ZZ production cross section and Z ?l+l-l'+l'- branching fraction in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Aaij R
(2016)
First observation of the decay B s 0 ? K S 0 K *(892)0 at LHCb
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Lu X
(2016)
Measurement of nuclear effects in neutrino interactions with minimal dependence on neutrino energy
in Physical Review C
Khachatryan V
(2016)
Search for Narrow Resonances in Dijet Final States at sqrt[s]=8 TeV with the Novel CMS Technique of Data Scouting.
in Physical review letters
Aaij R
(2016)
Study of D sJ (*) + mesons decaying to D * + K S 0 and D *0 K + final states
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Description | One of the main objectives of this grant was to support the exploitation of the LHC experiments which were taking data during the period of this grant. The CMS experiment continued to measure the Higgs particle, following its successful discovery in 2012. It was also able to cover completely new areas of parameter space in searches for SUSY and other new phenomena such as finding evidence of potential dark matter candidates. The LHCb experiment offered complementary tests of the Standard Model and beyond with the ability to look for extremely rare decays in flavour physics and to measure CP asymmetries in the decays of B mesons, both of which are sensitive to contributions from new physics. These experiments made extensive use of Grid computing which we continued to develop and exploit, both for the LHC and for other experiments. We were also active in preparing the next generation of detectors for the high luminosity upgrade of the LHC. The T2K experiment allowed us to expand our understanding of the masses and mixings in the neutrino sector, and provided key measurements towards obtaining evidence of CP violation in the neutrino sector. One of the other missing pieces of the neutrino puzzle is whether the neutrino is its own antiparticle. We prepared the SuperNEMO experiment to attempt to determine if the neutrino is a Majorana particle and first data-taking occurred during the grant. Heavy neutrino-like particles are predicted in several new physics models and we started preparations for the SHiP experiment to search for these new particles. The group was active in several experiments specifically searching for new physics. Direct conversion of muons to electrons is heavily suppressed in the Standard Model so any observation of this process would be a major discovery. The COMET experiment was prepared to search for this process. Similarly, a measurable electric dipole moment for the electron could only arise through new physics and the eEDM experiment continued to push down the limits for such an effect. Around a quarter of the universe is composed of dark matter and its nature is unknown. This has so far remained undetected in the laboratory and we continued to search for direct evidence of a dark matter candidate through the LUX and later LUX-ZEPLIN experiments. Accelerators to produce muon beams will be needed for future neutrino and muon collider experiments. The group continued its research in this area through the MICE experiment and nuSTORM studies. Proton beams also have potential applications for other scientific fields and for healthcare, and we studied how to apply these techniques in these areas. Understanding the LHC in terms of phenomenology is critical to comparing data to theory and we were very active in this area. |
Exploitation Route | The knowledge gained will directly benefit future researchers in particle physics, astronomy and cosmology. |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Healthcare |
Description | ZEPLIN-III detector exhibit & Public Lecture at "Whitby & the Cosmos" exhibition, Whitby, UK |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The ZEPLIN-III dark matter detector, which operated at the Boulby Underground Laboratory between 2007 and 2011, was adapted for public display at Imperial College London and donated to the Whitby Museum in late 2018 -- where it became the centrepiece of the topical exhibition "Whitby & the Cosmos". I gave a public lecture entitled "Searching for WIMPs under the Moors" on 15 Feb 2019 to open the event. The ZEPLIN-III instrument will be moved to the permanent collection of the Museum once the exhibition comes to an end in July 2019. Both the exhibition and the public lecture were widely publicised in the local media. The Museum received further support from the Royal Society for this event. The exhibition will receive many thousand of visitors over the coming months. We had the opportunity to donate the instrument to the Science Museum in London, but we chose the Whitby Museum instead to honour a town which hosted the ZEPLIN collaboration for two decades. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://whitbymuseum.org.uk/2019/01/09/whitby-and-the-cosmos/ |