Research in High Energy Physics on the CMS Experiment

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

CMS stands for Compact Muon Solenoid: compact because it is "small" for its enormous weight, muon for one of the particles it detects, and solenoid for the coil inside its huge superconducting magnet. It is a high-energy physics experiment in Cessy, France, part of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. CMS is designed to see a wide range of particles and phenomena produced in high-energy collisions in the LHC. Like a cylindrical onion, different layers of detector stop and measure the different particles, and use this key data to build up a picture of events at the heart of the collision. Scientists then use this data to search for new phenomena that will help to answer questions such as: What is the Universe really made of and what forces act within it? And what gives everything substance? CMS will also measure the properties of previously discovered particles with unprecedented precision, and be on the lookout for completely new, unpredicted phenomena. This search is carried out by detectors that consist of layers of material that exploit the different properties of particles to catch and measure the energy and momentum of each one. CMS was designed around getting the best possible scientific results, and therefore to look for the most efficient ways of finding evidence for new physical theories. This put certain requirements on the design. CMS needed: 1. a high performance system to detect and measure muons, 2. a high resolution method to detect and measure electrons and photons (an electromagnetic calorimeter), 3. a high quality central tracking system to give accurate momentum measurements, and 4. a "hermetic" hadron calorimeter", designed to entirely surround the collision and prevent particles from escaping. The CMS experiment is 21 m long, 15 m wide and 15 m high, and sits in a cavern that could contain all the residents of Geneva; albeit not comfortably. The detector is like a giant filter, where each layer is designed to stop, track or measure a different type of particle emerging from proton-proton and heavy ion collisions. Finding the energy and momentum of a particle gives clues to its identity, and particular patterns of particles, or "signatures", are indications of new and exciting physics. This project is directed toward requirement #2 above. The group will participate in the Forward Pixel Detector subsystem for the CMS. The main thrust of group's efforts will be in the commissioning of the Forward Pixel detector, establish the data-taking stable mode at the Remote Operations Center (ROC) and develop its geometry as the details of the upgrade are finalized, into the framework of CMS tracking software and perform its software alignment using reconstructed tracks. An educational outreach program will form a very essential component of these research efforts. It will involve undergraduate students from several disciplines, engineers, science teachers and high school students in this research at the cutting edge of technology.