US ATLAS Operations: Empowering US Universities for Discoveries at the Energy Frontier

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

The U.S. ATLAS Operations Program aims to provide U.S. university scientists with access to the unique LHC science opportunities through a balanced program that encompasses: (1) the technical effort associated with maintenance and operation of the U.S.-built detector subsystems, essential in achieving a detailed understanding of the detector for physics results; (2) the maintenance and refinement of software, computing and physics analysis support, critical in allowing scientists at U.S. universities to fully exploit the physics potential of the LHC, in part through the establishment of university-based Tier 2 computing centers in the U.S. and the expansion of the existing worldwide grid of resources; (3) an R&D program for detector upgrades, to maximize the physics output during the long period of running expected for the LHC and maintain U.S. intellectual leadership in accelerator-based particle physics; and (4) a strong education and outreach program. The ATLAS collaboration, consisting of 151 institutes from 34 countries, is completing construction of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, and preparing for initial data taking in 2007. The 34 institutions of U.S. ATLAS, with the support of NSF, have made major and unique contributions to the construction of the ATLAS detector, and continue to provide critical support for the ATLAS computing and software program, and pre-operations tasks as the detector is commissioned at CERN. Intellectual Merit: The goal of the U.S. ATLAS Operations Program is to empower U.S. physicists to address some of the most profound questions in particle physics today: what is the physical origin of mass? Do supersymmetric particles exist and will they shed light on the nature of dark matter? Does space-time have extra spatial dimensions? Answers to these questions would provide a major advance toward completing a unified view of the particles in nature, the forces with which particles interact, and their role in the past and future of our universe. This is a time when particle physics researchers have unusually compelling indications that the step to be taken by the LHC, leading to collision energies far beyond those available at existing facilities, will lead to especially important discoveries with implications over a broad field of fundamental science. This program rests on the especially strong scientific case for investigating the energy regime that will be accessed by the LHC, and benefits from a program in which the international community is providing a major part of the investment. The bold initiative of the NSF, in partnership with the DOE, to carry out a very significant portion of the construction and operations of the ATLAS detector has opened up this opportunity for U.S. scientists. Broader Impacts: This proposal will enhance the computing infrastructure for research, education and beyond. The LHC computing requirements are driving a paradigm shift towards global computing with potentially significant economic impacts, and our students will be at the forefront in using these new technologies. NSF-ATLAS groups continue to expand their education and outreach programs, with a particular focus on high school teachers and students (closely coordinated with QuarkNet), and on outreach to under-represented populations. We plan on strengthening and expanding our outreach efforts in the run-up to ATLAS data taking, including plans to help establish a computing center in Africa as part of our expanding network of worldwide grid facilities. This site will provide a platform on which to launch a program of Grid-based outreach in Africa. Starting in a few years the LHC will be the major accelerator-based program in which to train the next generation of physicists. Support for R&D activities will lay the groundwork for new technologies that might be adopted by other fields.