IRES Track I: US-CERN Summer Program on ATLAS Experiment of LHC at CERN for the California State University System

California State University-Fresno Foundation, Fresno CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will provide international research experience for students from the California State University (CSU) system through collaborative research projects and educational experience on the ATLAS experiment of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland. This program will send 6 CSU students per year to work on ATLAS research projects for ATLAS detector upgrades and incoming ATLAS Run-3 data taking and physics. The physics potential of incoming Run-3 will be over 10 times greater than Run-1 during which the Higgs boson was discovered. The Higgs discovery by ATLAS and CMS experiments of LHC in 2012 has captured the attention and imagination of the public and students throughout the world. This International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) project will support 18 students over three years working on ATLAS experiment of LHC at CERN. This project is focused on the largest university system in the country with 23 campuses and a total student population of ~490,000. Because CSU has very large minority and first-generation college student populations, student recruitment in this project will attract underrepresented as well as female students. The CSU students will validate the ATLAS Monte Carlo simulations, improve ATLAS software packages, and work on searching for new physics from ATLAS data. On ATLAS detector upgrades, the students will work on the installation, operation, and data analysis of ATLAS pixel detector, and improving software packages in monitoring various inner detector components. On ATLAS Trigger and Data Acquisition (DAQ), the students will install and test Fast Tracker (FTK) boards, improve and optimize FTK variable resolution patterns, and conduct offline and online testing of FTK performance. The students will also attend the renowned CERN Summer Student Lecture Series given by top physicists from all over the world. Upon returning to the US, student participants will give colloquia, seminars, and invited talks at CSU campuses, high schools, and local communities about their ATLAS research work and the CERN summer experience. Through the CSU Fresno PHYS 168S (?Physics Outreach?) course, the ATLAS students in PHYS 168S will visit at least two new K-12 classrooms each week to teach kinds about the CSU ATLAS and IRES programs and encourage them to pursue science. These outreach efforts will reach very large number of schools, their students and students? families in the Fresno and Central Valley area. 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.