Beyond the Standard Model Higgs Boson: Exploring the Higgs sector at the LHC

University Of Illinois At Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

With the discovery of a Higgs boson at the LHC, the Standard Model appears to be complete although profound questions remain unanswered. One such mystery is the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe (baryogenesis) and the nature of dark matter. This program of research is centered on the CMS experiment currently running at the proton-proton Large Hadron Collider (LHC)at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. This research will deepen our understanding of the Higgs boson using data from the CMS experiment to elucidate the connection between the physics of Higgs bosons and new physics beyond the Standard Model. This work will also support the upgrade of the CMS forward pixel detector for the high-luminosity LHC, with a focus on the design, selection, and testing of a read-out chip. In addition, a study will be carried out to understand the reasons why students decide to leave or remain in a physics major at UIC. In the Standard Model, about one out of sixty Higgs boson events produced at the LHC is produced in association with a Z boson. Measuring this rare process will be potentially sensitive to the influence of new physics. Further, this final state can be produced by the decay of an additional, heavier Higgs boson with different symmetry properties from the observed one. Such particles are predicted by many theories and can potentially answer the question of baryogenesis. Dark matter particles may also be produced at the LHC, but their experimental signature would be ambiguous. Associated production of a Higgs boson may be a unique way to flag these interactions and discover this elusive particle. This effort will develop new experimental tools and analyses for a decay channel of the Higgs boson, and will have other applications in collider data analysis. The second aspect of this research is to upgrade the CMS forward pixel tracker, focusing on readout chips that exceed current capabilities for high bandwidth, low threshold, and radiation tolerance. The work will focus on testing prototype chips and contributing to the design of the CMS pixel readout chip, so that the new detector will be ready for construction. In addition, through data collection, interviews, and comparison with other universities, understanding of the reasons affecting students' decision to stay with or leave the physics major will be improved. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.