Particle Physics Consolidated Grant 2019
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Oxford Physics
Abstract
Particle physics seeks to understand the Universe, its birth, evolution & fate in terms of the interplay of elementary particles (quarks & leptons), the fundamental forces (strong, electromagnetic & weak forces, & gravity) and force-particles that mediate them (photons, W/Z, gluons & gravitons) and the recently discovered Higgs particle that gives elementary particles mass. The last thirty years have seen the development of a theoretical framework, the Standard Model, in which almost all particle-physics data can be explained. But the model is incomplete. It explains what we encounter on Earth but studies of the cosmos suggest the presence of mysterious dark matter that holds galaxies together and more mysterious dark energy that is driving galaxies apart at an ever increasing rate. There are so many mysteries! There has never been a better time to be a particle physicist. Oxford's research will advance significantly our understanding of whatever "new-physics" theory will emerge to replace the Standard Model by providing the data to guide the theoretical work to develop it.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) reproduces the conditions within a million millionth of a second of the Big Bang. Oxford plays a major role in ATLAS and LHCb. These experiments have the potential to completely revolutionise our understanding of the universe. In ATLAS, Oxford physicists participated in the exciting discovery of the "Higgs particle", which makes matter matter by giving it mass. The Higgs particle is like a curtain; now that we have found the Higgs we can draw back the curtain to see a new world. Accordingly, we are studying it in great detail. We are also searching for particles with "supersymmetry" (SUSY), a theory that would provide a solution to "dark-matter" that makes up about 80% of matter in the Universe; and ATLAS is searching for hidden extra spatial dimensions. Oxford physicists on LHCb 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 & antiquarks - "CP-violation". This asymmetry permits us to exist.
Over the next decade, the LHC will upgrade to higher energy & intensity so detector improvements will be made for ATLAS & LHCb during this grant. The upgraded detectors will take particle physics to an unprecedented level of sensitivity for the nearly inevitable new-physics observations. Throughout our work we use powerful computing resources and develop cutting-edge analysis tools that are necessary for the extraction of important discoveries from vast volumes of data.
We participate in high-precision experiments complementary to the large experiments at the LHC. LZ addresses one of the most important questions in particle physics & cosmology: a search for dark matter; a candidate is the lightest SUSY particle. Mu3e searches for new physics mediated by very heavy particles that would not be visible at the LHC but are expected in many theoretical models including SUSY. LSST will measure how quickly the expansion of the universe is speeding up due to the mysterious dark energy that represents 75% of all energy in the universe and acts like anti-gravity pushing galaxies apart.
Through T2K, SK, HK, DUNE, & future projects, Oxford aims to understand the elusive neutrino, its "oscillation" from one type to another and whether there is a difference between neutrino and anti-neutrino properties - "CP-violation". SNO+ will measure other properties of the neutrino, e.g. whether or not it is its own antiparticle.
Throughout, Oxford will continue to develop & enhance capabilities in mechanical & electronic design so that we retain the ability to construct the most sophisticated apparatus for our experiments. We will retain our world-leading role for scientific excellence & major state-of-the-art detector construction in particle physics for the future. These are exciting times for particle physics, and Oxford is playing a major role.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) reproduces the conditions within a million millionth of a second of the Big Bang. Oxford plays a major role in ATLAS and LHCb. These experiments have the potential to completely revolutionise our understanding of the universe. In ATLAS, Oxford physicists participated in the exciting discovery of the "Higgs particle", which makes matter matter by giving it mass. The Higgs particle is like a curtain; now that we have found the Higgs we can draw back the curtain to see a new world. Accordingly, we are studying it in great detail. We are also searching for particles with "supersymmetry" (SUSY), a theory that would provide a solution to "dark-matter" that makes up about 80% of matter in the Universe; and ATLAS is searching for hidden extra spatial dimensions. Oxford physicists on LHCb 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 & antiquarks - "CP-violation". This asymmetry permits us to exist.
Over the next decade, the LHC will upgrade to higher energy & intensity so detector improvements will be made for ATLAS & LHCb during this grant. The upgraded detectors will take particle physics to an unprecedented level of sensitivity for the nearly inevitable new-physics observations. Throughout our work we use powerful computing resources and develop cutting-edge analysis tools that are necessary for the extraction of important discoveries from vast volumes of data.
We participate in high-precision experiments complementary to the large experiments at the LHC. LZ addresses one of the most important questions in particle physics & cosmology: a search for dark matter; a candidate is the lightest SUSY particle. Mu3e searches for new physics mediated by very heavy particles that would not be visible at the LHC but are expected in many theoretical models including SUSY. LSST will measure how quickly the expansion of the universe is speeding up due to the mysterious dark energy that represents 75% of all energy in the universe and acts like anti-gravity pushing galaxies apart.
Through T2K, SK, HK, DUNE, & future projects, Oxford aims to understand the elusive neutrino, its "oscillation" from one type to another and whether there is a difference between neutrino and anti-neutrino properties - "CP-violation". SNO+ will measure other properties of the neutrino, e.g. whether or not it is its own antiparticle.
Throughout, Oxford will continue to develop & enhance capabilities in mechanical & electronic design so that we retain the ability to construct the most sophisticated apparatus for our experiments. We will retain our world-leading role for scientific excellence & major state-of-the-art detector construction in particle physics for the future. These are exciting times for particle physics, and Oxford is playing a major role.
Planned Impact
Curiosity-driven research has been shown to be key in producing high-impact applications that break the paradigm rather than contribute to incremental improvements. By working at the cutting edge of new technologies, and utilising the rare capabilities of our design and fabrication workshops to develop low mass materials and solutions and capitalising on our strengths in metrology, significant developments of benefit to a far wider community can be produced. Our current portfolio gives examples of such applications; we fully expect that others will develop during the period of this grant.
Our research into detectors & sensors has applications in many other fields. Work on photomultiplier tubes for LHCb has resulted in Photek UK marketting new photodetectors with wide-ranging applications in PET & neutron imaging, for use in many sectors e.g. space and healthcare. Future work will enable further advances in this technology. CICADA is a detector system we are developing with STFC-RAL targeted at Free Electron Laser facilities, which will benefit many sectors including energy (catalysis), chemistry (phase changes), life sciences (protein imaging), the community of users, and companies who may want to license the technology for mass-production. Enabled by the Oxford Physics Microstructure Detector Laboratory we are collaborating with a cluster of Oxford departments that will exploit Medipix systems. These include new detectors for electron microscopy (Materials Science), improvements in resolution for TOFMS (Chemistry), and work by the Luminescence Dating Laboratory (Archaeology). Our work on scintillator characterization for LZ has enabled contact-free temperature measurement technology for use at beamlines (e.g. Diamond), this will lead to benefits for many users including in health/life science. Building on the successful development of a new DAQ system for optical interferometry we are expanding our industry collaboration into the development of a novel interferometric instrument that will produce a step change to the abilities of our currently licensed interferometry & DAQ technologies. We will further extend the DAQ aspects into the development of an optical PMT readout system with real time pulse shape analysis for the SNO+ upgrade, in collaboration with industry.
The Wow Factor of particle physics- unravelling the mysteries of the universe with huge high-tech infrastructure- makes it ideal to engage people with science. Outreach is a core part of our long term strategy. Existing outreach will be enhanced by three programmes of engagement targeting schools, community groups and the wider public to international scale, helping the public & policymakers appreciate how our understanding of the universe is advancing & the role of projects like the LHC. School workshops will attract more students to study physics at university (increasing the UK's technological competitiveness internationally, building a high-tech skill base in society, education, economy, health & security to directly enhance UK quality of life). These are supplemented by novel approaches: ATLAS/MINEcraft project, LHSee/Collider smartphone apps; and activities: Masterclasses & UNIQ Summer Schools. Citizen science project Higgs Hunters (higgshunters.org) allows users to scan displays of Higgs candidate events searching for decays (reaching 37k people from 179 countries). Through annual Stargazing Oxford events (>1000 visitors), our Particle Physics Stall and the Superstrings/Einstein's Universe lectures held within the department and at a wide range of community events and larger science festivals we demonstrate the principles of fundamental particles, electricity and cosmology to critical acclaim, making our science more accessible and encouraging interest in new results as they are announced. The unprecedented media storm around the Higgs discovery in July 2012 indicates significant success in this endeavour.
Our research into detectors & sensors has applications in many other fields. Work on photomultiplier tubes for LHCb has resulted in Photek UK marketting new photodetectors with wide-ranging applications in PET & neutron imaging, for use in many sectors e.g. space and healthcare. Future work will enable further advances in this technology. CICADA is a detector system we are developing with STFC-RAL targeted at Free Electron Laser facilities, which will benefit many sectors including energy (catalysis), chemistry (phase changes), life sciences (protein imaging), the community of users, and companies who may want to license the technology for mass-production. Enabled by the Oxford Physics Microstructure Detector Laboratory we are collaborating with a cluster of Oxford departments that will exploit Medipix systems. These include new detectors for electron microscopy (Materials Science), improvements in resolution for TOFMS (Chemistry), and work by the Luminescence Dating Laboratory (Archaeology). Our work on scintillator characterization for LZ has enabled contact-free temperature measurement technology for use at beamlines (e.g. Diamond), this will lead to benefits for many users including in health/life science. Building on the successful development of a new DAQ system for optical interferometry we are expanding our industry collaboration into the development of a novel interferometric instrument that will produce a step change to the abilities of our currently licensed interferometry & DAQ technologies. We will further extend the DAQ aspects into the development of an optical PMT readout system with real time pulse shape analysis for the SNO+ upgrade, in collaboration with industry.
The Wow Factor of particle physics- unravelling the mysteries of the universe with huge high-tech infrastructure- makes it ideal to engage people with science. Outreach is a core part of our long term strategy. Existing outreach will be enhanced by three programmes of engagement targeting schools, community groups and the wider public to international scale, helping the public & policymakers appreciate how our understanding of the universe is advancing & the role of projects like the LHC. School workshops will attract more students to study physics at university (increasing the UK's technological competitiveness internationally, building a high-tech skill base in society, education, economy, health & security to directly enhance UK quality of life). These are supplemented by novel approaches: ATLAS/MINEcraft project, LHSee/Collider smartphone apps; and activities: Masterclasses & UNIQ Summer Schools. Citizen science project Higgs Hunters (higgshunters.org) allows users to scan displays of Higgs candidate events searching for decays (reaching 37k people from 179 countries). Through annual Stargazing Oxford events (>1000 visitors), our Particle Physics Stall and the Superstrings/Einstein's Universe lectures held within the department and at a wide range of community events and larger science festivals we demonstrate the principles of fundamental particles, electricity and cosmology to critical acclaim, making our science more accessible and encouraging interest in new results as they are announced. The unprecedented media storm around the Higgs discovery in July 2012 indicates significant success in this endeavour.
Organisations
Publications
Azzi P.
(2019)
Standard Model Physics at the HL-LHC and HE-LHC
in arXiv e-prints
ATLAS Collaboration ATLAS
(2021)
Determination of the parton distribution functions of the proton using diverse ATLAS data from $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$, 8 and 13 TeV
in arXiv e-prints
ZEUS Collaboration ZEUS
(2020)
Study of proton parton distribution functions at high x using ZEUS data
in arXiv e-prints
Amoroso S.
(2020)
Les Houches 2019: Physics at TeV Colliders: Standard Model Working Group Report
in arXiv e-prints
Ball Richard D.
(2022)
The PDF4LHC21 combination of global PDF fits for the LHC Run III
in arXiv e-prints
Abe K
(2022)
Search for solar electron anti-neutrinos due to spin-flavor precession in the Sun with Super-Kamiokande-IV
in Astroparticle Physics
Akerib D
(2021)
Simulations of events for the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter experiment
in Astroparticle Physics
Akerib D
(2020)
Measurement of the gamma ray background in the Davis cavern at the Sanford Underground Research Facility
in Astroparticle Physics
Aaij R
(2021)
Search for the rare decay B 0 ? J/?? *
in Chinese Physics C
Aaij R
(2021)
Search for the doubly heavy baryons and decaying to and *
in Chinese Physics C
Aad G
(2022)
AtlFast3: The Next Generation of Fast Simulation in ATLAS
in Computing and Software for Big Science
Aad G
(2022)
Emulating the impact of additional proton-proton interactions in the ATLAS simulation by presampling sets of inelastic Monte Carlo events
in Computing and Software for Big Science
Piro F
(2022)
A 1- µ W Radiation-Hard Front-End in a 0.18- µ m CMOS Process for the MALTA2 Monolithic Sensor
in IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science
Manly S
(2021)
Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Near Detector Conceptual Design Report
in Instruments
Aad G
(2021)
Search for dark matter in association with an energetic photon in pp collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2020)
Precision measurement of the $$ {\varXi}_{cc}^{++} $$ mass
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Windischhofer P
(2020)
Preserving physically important variables in optimal event selections: a case study in Higgs physics
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aad G
(2021)
Search for squarks and gluinos in final states with jets and missing transverse momentum using 139 fb-1 of $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 13 TeV pp collision data with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2020)
Measurement of branching fraction ratios for B+ ? D*+D-K+, B+ ? D*-D+K+, and B0 ? D*-D0K+ decays
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Amacker J
(2020)
Higgs self-coupling measurements using deep learning in the $$ b\overline{b}b\overline{b} $$ final state
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Alonso R
(2021)
Prospects for direct CP tests of hqq interactions
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aad G
(2021)
Search for Higgs boson production in association with a high-energy photon via vector-boson fusion with decay into bottom quark pairs at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2021)
Measurement of the CKM angle ? in B± ? DK± and B± ? Dp± decays with D ? $$ {K}_{\mathrm{S}}^0 $$h+h-
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2021)
Measurement of the CKM angle ? and $$ {B}_s^0\hbox{-} {\overline{B}}_s^0 $$ mixing frequency with $$ {B}_s^0\to {D}_s^{\mp }{h}^{\pm }{\pi}^{\pm }{\pi}^{\mp } $$ decays
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Abt I
(2020)
Two-particle azimuthal correlations as a probe of collective behaviour in deep inelastic ep scattering at HERA
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2020)
Measurement of the shape of the $$ {B}_s^0\to {D}_s^{\ast -}{\mu}^{+}{\nu}_{\mu } $$ differential decay rate
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2021)
Observation of CP violation in two-body $$ {B}_{(s)}^0 $$-meson decays to charged pions and kaons
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2020)
Test of lepton universality with $$ {\Lambda}_b^0\to {pK}^{-}{\mathrm{\ell}}^{+}{\mathrm{\ell}}^{-} $$ decays
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Ashby-Pickering R
(2023)
Quantum state tomography, entanglement detection and Bell violation prospects in weak decays of massive particles
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Bjørn M
(2019)
CP violation and material interaction of neutral kaons in measurements of the CKM angle ? using B± ? DK± decays where D ? K0sp+p-
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2020)
Strong constraints on the b ? s? photon polarisation from B0 ? K*0e+e- decays
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2021)
Observation of the $$ {B}_s^0 $$ ? D*±D± decay
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2021)
Measurement of differential $$ b\overline{b} $$- and $$ c\overline{c} $$-dijet cross-sections in the forward region of pp collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 13 TeV
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Aaij R
(2020)
Search for the doubly heavy $$ {\Xi}_{bc}^0 $$ baryon via decays to D0pK-
in Journal of High Energy Physics
Van Rijnbach M
(2022)
Radiation hardness and timing performance in MALTA monolithic pixel sensors in TowerJazz 180 nm
in Journal of Instrumentation
Abreu Y
(2019)
Development of a quality assurance process for the SoLid experiment
in Journal of Instrumentation
Abe K
(2022)
Scintillator ageing of the T2K near detectors from 2010 to 2021
in Journal of Instrumentation
Abi B
(2020)
First results on ProtoDUNE-SP liquid argon time projection chamber performance from a beam test at the CERN Neutrino Platform
in Journal of Instrumentation
Mulvey J
(2022)
Preliminary test results of LGADs from Teledyne e2v for the LHC's High-Luminosity upgrade
in Journal of Instrumentation
Abe K
(2022)
Neutron tagging following atmospheric neutrino events in a water Cherenkov detector
in Journal of Instrumentation
Abreu Y
(2021)
SoLid: a short baseline reactor neutrino experiment
in Journal of Instrumentation
Aaij R
(2019)
Measurement of the electron reconstruction efficiency at LHCb
in Journal of Instrumentation
Calabrese R
(2022)
Performance of the LHCb RICH detectors during LHC Run 2
in Journal of Instrumentation
Abreu Y
(2019)
Commissioning and operation of the readout system for the SoLid neutrino detector
in Journal of Instrumentation
Collaboration T
(2020)
Operation of the ATLAS trigger system in Run 2
in Journal of Instrumentation
Aad G
(2020)
ATLAS data quality operations and performance for 2015-2018 data-taking
in Journal of Instrumentation
Abe K
(2019)
Search for neutral-current induced single photon production at the ND280 near detector in T2K
in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics
Agostini P
(2021)
The Large Hadron-Electron Collider at the HL-LHC
in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics
Pajero T
(2022)
Recent advances in charm mixing and CP violation at LHCb
in Modern Physics Letters A
Description | 90 degrees south: detecting invisible messengers of the cosmos |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | An event giving a unique insight into the extraordinary IceCube Neutrino Observatory in the South Pole. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/events/90-degrees-south |
Description | The Particle Physics Christmas Lecture 2021: AWAKE - creating a path for high energy particle physics |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | lasma wakefield acceleration has been proposed as an approach capable of pushing the energy frontier of particle physics. An experiment using a proton beam at CERN, the AWAKE experiment, was approved in August 2013, and first data taking took take place in 2016. AWAKE has since reached its first important milestones. The next running periods will demonstrate the acceleration of bunches of electrons and will demonstrate scalability of the process, opening the door to future particle physics experiments. The underlying physics will be explained and first applications discussed. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/events/awake-creating-path-high-energy-particle-physics |
Description | Understanding the ghost particle: exploring Oxford's 50 year contribution to neutrino research |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The Particle Physics sub-department at Oxford has played a key role in neutrino research over the last 50 years; here, we consider this remarkable contributions and look ahead to the future of particle physics at Oxford. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNhWoaFfBmM |