Research in Particle Physics with ATLAS at the LHC

Hampton University, Hampton VA

Investigators

Abstract

ATLAS (A Toroidal Large Angle Spectrometer) is a general-purpose detector that is designed to exploit the potential of the LHC proton-proton collider. It is an international collaboration of 1500 scientists, from 145 institutes in 31 countries, including 250 physicists from 28 US institutions. Hampton University is participating in the construction of this detector with responsibilities for assembling the "Transition Radiation Tracker". The LHC will provide 10 times higher center-of-mass energy and 10-100 times higher proton-proton collision rates than previous colliders, thus opening up a new frontier of physics. Discovery of the mass-generating mechanism (via "spontaneous symmetry breaking" involving the Higgs boson) is a primary objective of ATLAS. In addition, theoretical developments indicate the possible existence of a more general framework (called "supersymmetry") for the building blocks of matter and the fundamental interactions, which predicts the existence of a new class of fundamental particles. The discovery of such "supersymmetric particles" is another goal. This project is funded by the OMA/MPS and EPP/PHY.