Higgs Boson Decays in the Lancaster Particle Physics Package

Lead Research Organisation: Lancaster University
Department Name: Physics

Abstract

The aim of this project is to interest young people in particle physics in general and in the continuation of Higgs physics at the LHC or another Higgs factory. The Lancaster Particle Physics Package allows users to control simulated particle collisions and to carry out various experiments. A new module of this package will be developed that, now that the Higgs boson has been found, focuses on the continuing story of particle physics: measuring branching ratios of Higgs decay modes and the Higgs self coupling (shape of the symmetry breaking potential).

Planned Impact

The distribution of the Lancaster Particle Physics Package follows three main routes:

1) Masterclasses at Lancaster University and other UK universities. There are several universities and institutes that use the LPPP in their own Masterclass (e.g. Glasgow, Durham, RAL) All UK institutes will be notified of the upgrade. Teachers and students participating in the Masterclasses have free access to the module for future use.

2) The LPPP is part of the resources distributed in the framework of the European Masterclasses, where Prof. M. Kobel, Dresden University is leading the effort. As soon as the new version is available we will make sure that it is included in this distribution.

3) the LPPP is usable and downloadable for free from the Lancaster University website . Past users can get the upgraded version from there. The site will also be advertised to teachers in the UK through various sources (IOP, leaflets, e-mails).

Publications

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Description The Lancaster Particle Physics Package (LPPP) is a web-based program aiming to improve awareness and understanding of modern High Energy Physics (HEP) among the AS/A2 level students, teachers, 1st year university students and interested members of the general public. It is accessible at www.lppp.lancs.ac.uk. The Lancaster Particle Physics Package allows users to control simulated particle collisions and to carry out various experiments. The pre-existing LPPP modules are:
1) Pool: kinematics of particle collisions.
2) Annihilation: physics behind electron-positron annihilation.
3) Magnetic field: movement of charged particles in the magnetic field, and its use for momentum measurements.
4) Lifetime: mass and lifetime measurements for neutral kaons produced in simulated collisions.
5) Higgs: search for the Higgs boson in the gamma-gamma decay mode at the LHC.
6) Neutrino mixing: simulation of high energy muon neutrinos colliding with a target with and without oscillating into an electron neutrino.

Now that the Higgs boson has been found, new modules have been developed for the LPPP that focus on the continuing story of particle physics: describing theory of the symmetry breaking potential, the Higgs self coupling (shape of the symmetry breaking potential) and measuring branching ratios of Higgs decay modes. The setup is a simplified version of an LHC-like experiments, adapted as needed to re-use concepts and methods introduced in previous modules and to reduce unnecessary complications. A simulation of an experiment which allow the user to observe images of four different event types has been added: i) H -> b bbar, ii) H -> tau+ tau-, iii) H -> ZZ -> 4l and iv) H -> gamma - gamma.
Armed with the skills and techniques learnt in other modules (measurement of track momentum, measurement of electron/photon energy in a calorimeter) and in the previous page, the user is able to classify each (randomly produced) event into one of the five classes shown above and keep track of the event numbers in each of the categories. With enough statistics branching ratios (and their uncertainties!) will be calculated.

In this way students can gain an insight into particle physics and work processes of a researcher in high energy physics.
Exploitation Route The LPPP is available for public use by universities, research institutes, schools and the general public. It is available on the web, from the CERN outreach site, and via the European Masterclass.
Sectors Education
URL http://lppp.lancs.ac.uk/
 
Description Early versions of the Lancaster Particle Physics Package have been used over the last 20 years. One of its main uses has been in Masterclasses run by several universities and research organisations in the UK and elsewhere. In these Masterclasses (mainly) A-level students are introduced to the collisions and detection of particle. The LPPP is also used by teachers in a classroom environment. Students run simulated experiments by themselves and are experiencing particle collisions, neutrino oscillations and Higgs boson production. Over the past years more than 10000 students in the UK alone have been introduced to particle physics with the aid of this tool. As the LPPP is available online and distributed via CERN and other European institutions the LPPP also has an international reach beyond its original target group of UK students.
First Year Of Impact 2004
Sector Education
Impact Types Cultural,Societal
 
Title Higgs decays in the Lancaster Particle Physics Package 
Description The Lancaster Particle Physics Package (LPPP) is a web-based program aiming to improve awareness and understanding of modern High Energy Physics (HEP) among the AS/A2 level students, teachers, 1st year university students and interested members of the general public. It is accessible at www.lppp.lancs.ac.uk. The Lancaster Particle Physics Package allows users to control simulated particle collisions and to carry out various experiments. The pre-existing LPPP modules are: 1) Pool: kinematics of particle collisions. 2) Annihilation: physics behind electron-positron annihilation. 3) Magnetic field: movement of charged particles in the magnetic field, and its use for momentum measurements. 4) Lifetime: mass and lifetime measurements for neutral kaons produced in simulated collisions. 5) Higgs: search for the Higgs boson in the gamma-gamma decay mode at the LHC. 6) Neutrino mixing: simulation of high energy muon neutrinos colliding with a target with and without oscillating into an electron neutrino. Now that the Higgs boson has been found, new modules have been developed for the LPPP that focus on the continuing story of particle physics: describing theory of the symmetry breaking potential, the Higgs self coupling (shape of the symmetry breaking potential) and measuring branching ratios of Higgs decay modes. The setup is a simplified version of an LHC-like experiments, adapted as needed to re-use concepts and methods introduced in previous modules and to reduce unnecessary complications. A simulation of an experiment which allow the user to observe images of four different event types has been added: i) H -> b bbar, ii) H -> tau+ tau-, iii) H -> ZZ -> 4l and iv) H -> gamma - gamma. Armed with the skills and techniques learnt in other modules (measurement of track momentum, measurement of electron/photon energy in a calorimeter) and in the previous page, the user is able to classify each (randomly produced) event into one of the five classes shown above and keep track of the event numbers in each of the categories. With enough statistics branching ratios (and their uncertainties!) will be calculated. The development version with the new modules can be found here: http://lapb.lancs.ac.uk/internal/package/pb/ 
Type Of Technology Webtool/Application 
Year Produced 2016 
Impact The module, together with other parts of the LPPP, are being used during Particle Physics Masterclasses in Lancaster and other UK universities. Over the years more than 10000 A-level students in the UK have been introduced to particle physics using this tool. In addition to outreach activities at universities and research centres teachers are using the LPPP as a resource in their classes at school. Students are inspired to study STEM subjects such as Physics, Engineering and Computing in this way. The new version of the package will again be included to the European Masterclass resources and reach Europe wide distribution. This distribution reaches several thousands of students each year in addition to schools and teachers Europe wide. 
URL http://lppp.lancs.ac.uk/
 
Title Lancaster Particle Physics Package (LPPP) 
Description We have been working on an upgrade of the LPPP over the summer period. For this purpose we hired a student to help with the programming. A new module of the package has been created that simulates and displays various decay modes of the Higgs boson: H->bbbar, H->tautau, H->gammagamma and H->ZZ->llll. The simulation and the display of those decay modes has been achieved, however, the user interface is not yet at a level where the new module can go online. An additional complication arose when Microsoft and Oracle required a certificate to run Java applets on Windows computers. So far there seems to be no way to acquire one of these licences. We keep working on solving this problem. 
Type Of Technology Webtool/Application 
Year Produced 2014 
Impact The package will be used in schools and for outreach purposes at other universities in 2015. 
URL http://lppp.lancs.ac.uk/