Experimental Particle Physics Rolling Grant 2006-2011
Lead Research Organisation:
Lancaster University
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
This research is aimed at understanding the properties of the basic building blocks of the Universe (the elementary particles) and the nature of the fundamental forces which govern the interactions of these particles. In so doing, deep insights will be gained about the origin and evolution of the Universe, especially in the first moments after the Big Bang. The Lancaster research programme covers all the main types of accelerator facilities and is based on hadron collider physics with the Tevatron (Fermilab) and LHC (CERN) machines, the observation of long baseline neutrino oscillations in Japan and, in the longer term future, high energy electron-positron collisions at the International Linear Collider (ILC). All of this work will be underpinned by Lancaster's expertise in characterising and understanding the properties of heavily irradiated silicon particle detectors, in operating high performance computing facilities on the Grid and in writing offline event reconstruction software. The hadron collider physics is expected to reveal detailed properties of B hadrons (containing heavy b-quarks) including the mixing of neutral B mesons containing strange quarks, and CP violation which is related to the existence of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe. Searches for new physics at the LHC will focus on understanding the origin of mass (and the role of the Higgs boson), the existence of new symmetries of nature (e.g. supersymmetry) and extra spatial dimensions. The neutrino oscillations programme is expected to provide important information about the masses of and the amount of mixing amongst the three known species of neutrinos. If the appearance of electron neutrinos can be observed in a muon neutrino beam then it may be possible, in a further phase of the research, to establish the existence of CP violation in the neutrino sector of the Standard Model. This could have wide reaching implications for the understanding of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe. The electron-positron collider (the ILC) will enable a continuation of some of the research performed at the LHC but with a facility of greater precision and versatility. It could be especially crucial for the elucidation of the properties of the Higgs boson and supersymmetry if they exist as well as being an abundant source of top quraks.
Organisations
Publications
Abazov V
(2009)
Search for a scalar or vector particle decaying into Z? in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2007)
Search for B s 0 ? µ + µ - decays at D0
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2010)
Search for single top quarks in the tau + jets channel using 4.8 fb-1 of p p ¯ collision data
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2008)
Erratum: Measurement of Inclusive Differential Cross Sections for ? ( 1 S ) Production in p p ¯ Collisions at s = 1.96 TeV [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94 , 232001 (2005)]
in Physical Review Letters
Abazov V
(2012)
Z ? production and limits on anomalous Z Z ? and Z ? ? couplings in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2009)
Relative rates of B meson decays into ? ( 2 S ) and J / ? mesons
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2009)
Search for charged Higgs bosons in top quark decays
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2012)
Search for the standard model Higgs boson in tau lepton final states
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2014)
Study of C P -violating charge asymmetries of single muons and like-sign dimuons in p p ¯ collisions
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2011)
High mass exclusive diffractive dijet production in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2011)
Measurements of single top quark production cross sections and | V t b | in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2007)
Measurement of the W boson helicity in top quark decays at D0
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2011)
Measurement of the t t ¯ production cross section using dilepton events in p p ¯ collisions
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2014)
Muon reconstruction and identification with the Run II D0 detector
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Abazov V
(2011)
Search for neutral Higgs bosons in the multi-b-jet topology in 5.2 fb - 1 of p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2013)
Measurement of the muon charge asymmetry in p p ¯ ? W + X ? µ ? + X events at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2011)
Measurement of the production fraction times branching fraction f ( b ? ? b ) · B ( ? b ? J / ? ? )
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2011)
Measurement of the WZ ? l ? l l cross section and limits on anomalous triple gauge couplings in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2012)
Measurement of the photon + b -jet production differential cross section in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2014)
Electron and photon identification in the D0 experiment
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Abazov V
(2013)
Search for charged massive long-lived particles at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2008)
Search for scalar top quarks in the acoplanar charm jets and missing transverse energy final state in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2012)
Study of the decay B s 0 ? J / ? f 2 ' ( 1525 ) in µ + µ - K + K - final states
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2013)
Measurement of the differential cross sections for isolated direct photon pair production in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physics Letters B