Top Quark and Higgs Boson Physics at Hadron Colliders

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

The Michigan State Group plans to continue its research on top quark physics using the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) and use this expertise from CDF to contribute to the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) located at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. The group is currently working on measuring the charge of the top quark, which the SM predicts to be +2/3 but there are non-SM theories that allow for an exotic top quark with charge -4/3. Additionally the group is working with matrix element techniques that can be applied to the search for a non-Standard Model W boson which might decay into a single top quark plus a bottom quark. Ultimately it is planned to use this technique to search for Higgs Bosons in the WH Channel at the LHC. Over the next three years the group will gradually transition to the ATLAS experiment. As a fundamental feature of the research effort, the group is dedicated to encouraging minorities, especially women, to become interested in science and pursue careers in physics.