Searching for new charm baryon states in LHCb Run 2 data

The LHCb experiment has collected 9 fb^-1 of data during Run 1 and Run 2. While the LHCb detector was originally designed to study and search for CP Violation, and rare and forbidden decays of b and c hadrons, LHCb has also been able to discover several new states of conventional (ground, excited states) and exotic hadrons (penta-, tetra-quarks).

My project is presently focused on searching for excited charmed baryons Xic*+ decaying into the Xic+ pi+ pi- state (and charge conjugate.) Based on the recent discovery of three neutral Xic* states in the Lambda_c+ K- channel, there is a good chance we will discover one or more of the isospin partners. There is already some existing data, and plenty of experience gained from previous analyses.

In parallel, a separate analysis will be performed aiming to measure the production cross-sections of a suite of charmed hadrons in the early Run 3 data. In this case we can benefit from dedicated unbiased trigger lines while being able to provide crucial input to validate the entire data collection and analysis chain for what will effectively be a brand new LHCb detector. This early Run 3 data is expected in mid-2022, so this analysis will be planned with mainly simulated samples. (This approach worked very well in the Run 2 Early Measurement programme.)

Finally, the project includes a Detector R&D component, working towards the design and development of a brand new LHCb subdetector - the "Mighty Tracker." This may include involvement in
- Test beam software and data analysis to characterise the CMOS chips that will form the main active elements
of the detector

- Development of realistic detector simulation algorithms and planning for the final data format.

There could also be a hardware component, working alongside engineers and other staff in the University of Edinburgh on key R&D tasks in the data readout chain.