Elementary Particle Physics in a Nutshell

Elementary Particle
Physics in a Nutshell
Elementary particle physics explores the
nature of the very large and the very small

Elementary Particle
Physics in a Nutshell
Elementary particle physics explores the
nature of the very large and the very small

... forces within the nucleus

Elementary Particle
Physics in a Nutshell
Elementary particle physics explores the
nature of the very large and the very small

... forces within the nucleus

... the stuff of the universe

Elementary Particle
Physics in a Nutshell
Elementary particle physics explores the
nature of the very large and the very small

... forces within the nucleus

... the stuff of the universe

... the unity of forces

...searches for new

elementary (not just
elemental) forms of
matter

Explores the
dominance of matter
over anti-matter

... the unification of

physical symmetries in
a hot universe

... origins of mass

...searches for new

elementary (not just
elemental) forms of
matter

Explores the
dominance of matter
over anti-matter

... the unification of

physical symmetries in
a hot universe

... origins of mass

... the fundamental

theories of life, the
universe and
everything

Study basic constituents of

matter and the forces that
govern their actions

The Labs
Fermilab (Near Chicago)
The Tevatron
proton-antiproton collider
at c.o.m. Energy = 2TeV

CERN (Geneva, Switzerland)

Tdhe LHC
proton-proton collider
at c.o.m. Energy = 14TeV

6.3 km circumference

27 km circumference

May 4, 2005

Drew Baden

10

Tevatron

not to scale

The Experiments
D - Fermilab
Weighs 5000 tons
~106 channels of information
Inspects ~3-30 x106
collisions/sec.

CMS - CERN
Weighs 12,500 tons
~107 channels of information
Inspects ~40-1000 x106
collisions/sec.

Running now, mature experiment,

high quality data

First physics data: end of 2009

May 4, 2005

Drew Baden

13

D-Zero

Slice of CMS

May 4, 2005

Drew Baden

7m

15

The kinds of questions we ask

Are there undiscovered principles of
nature: new symmetries, new physical laws?
Are there extra dimensions of
space?

What is dark matter?

How can we make it
in the laboratory?

The kinds of questions we ask

Cosmic tug of war
How can we solve the mystery of dark
energy?

Composition of the universe

Do all the forces become one?

The kinds of
questions we ask

>12 orders of
magnitude
in mass!

Why are there so many

kinds of particles?
What is mass?

Standard Model
particles, many
more may exist

What is the origin of electroweak

symmetry breaking?
mass = 80.4 GeV

photon
mass = 0

The kinds of questions we ask

How did the universe come to be?

Now
2

c
m
=

What happened to the

antimatter?
Then

Matter

Antimatter

xkcd.com

Electroweak Unification
Cold

EM-like

Weak-like
EM/Weak
interactions
unified at
large
Energy/
momentum
transfer

Hot

EM/Weak interactions
unified at large
energy/momentum transfer

Quantum Chromodynamics
Gauge theory (like electromagnetism)
describes fermions (quarks) which carry an
SU(3) charge (color) and interact through
the exchange of vector bosons (gluons)

Interesting features:
- gluons themselves have color
- interactions are strong
- coupling constant runs rapidly
becomes weak at momentum
transfers above a few GeV

In a more general theory

(GUT), expect unification
w/ electroweak force

LHC: The New Frontier

Accumulate world's largest data sets at

highest energies before LHC era
physics menu includes:
Precision top physics (first ever)
Precision EW physics (new
observations of di-boson states)
Searches: Higgs* and new physics
(explore much of SUSY phase space,
extra-dimensions, exotic matter states)
QCD and proton hadronic structure
(new levels of precision, smallest
distance scales yet)*
Discover new states predicted by QPM
Heavy flavor physics* (Precision
measurements in heavy quark sector,
relationship between generations, matter
antimatter asymmetry,...
Mature experiment, high quality data

physics menu includes:

Copious top production
Test of EW physics to unitarity limit
Copious Higgs production*, test SM
vs. SUSY Higgs
Direct observations of SUSY states*
or elimination of the lifetime work of
many theorists :)
Order of magnitude gain in physics
reach at smallest distance scales*
Open door to weirdness: black hole
production, extremely massive exotic
states, new types of strong
interactions, extra-dimensions*....
A new era of HEP research starts
this Fall!

* general group interests at present

Various Technical Projects

At the CMS test beam

Constantly pushing
technological envelopes:
High speed electronics
Computing
Precision detector
readout
Radiation and high
magnetic field tolerant
devices
Fast, exceptionally
sensitive detector
technologies
State of the art data
analysis techniques
...

World's 1st web site and a the WWW, a gift to the

world from HEP

1990

Workshops and Physics Schools

Around Fermilab

Around CERN

CERN Surroundings

Where do HEP students go?

HEP students and postdocs go many places after completing their
research, some (very few really) examples:
Industry
Industrial research and instrumentation design
Wireless technology and network infrastructure
IT Consulting
Financial analysis, modeling
Design of medical treatment devices
Non-Industry
But, you should
Private and public think tanks
only choose this or
National research laboratories (not only HEP)
any other research
Law, Media
area because you
Academia
are interested in
4-year undergraduate colleges
the physics!
Tier-1 research universities
no passion, no
progress!

What can you learn along w/ physics?

Lots:
detector technologies, typical HEP experiments can easily employ
many varieties of particle detection enormous amount of practical
physics in development of detector systems
high performance data readout systems, electronics (HEP detectors
must typically process 10's of TB of data each second)
high performance computing:
need to cull above data rate to manageable levels in real time
handle data sets at many PetaByte level
sophisticated data analysis techniques, statistical reasoning,
multivariate approaches for problems -> extracting maximal
information from data
working with engineers and detector/accelerator physics experts to
bring experiments on-line
experience w/ detailed simulations of detector systems and physics
processes
join in a large talented physics community, amazing access to
expertise in world wide community + many opportunities to contribute
to high-profile efforts

Interested in Experimental HEP?

Great opportunities for graduate students this year

Some resources:
- seminars, colloquia, ...
- Symmetry Magazine: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org
- CERN Courier: http://cerncourier.com
- Femilab Today: http://www.fnal.gov/pub/today/

A fantastic time to get involved!

Want to try learn more? I'll be happy to meet with interested students.
Lab Tours
Project Details
Opportunities to get involved at UVa, CERN, Fermilab
Hirosky@Virginia.EDU