LHCb Operations and Computing

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

The development of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics is a major intellectual achievement. The validity of this model was further confirmed by the discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. However, the Standard Model leaves open many questions, including why matter dominates over anti-matter in the Universe (CP violation), the values of the masses of quarks and leptons, and the properties of dark matter, among others. Most explanations require new phenomena, which we call Beyond the Standard Model Physics (BSM), and which the LHCb experiment at CERN has been designed to explore. This award provides facility operations, maintenance, and computing support to enable the participation of U.S. scientists in the LHCb experiment at CERN. The LHC is the premier High Energy Physics particle accelerator in the world and is currently operating at the CERN laboratory near Geneva Switzerland, one of the foremost facilities for answering these BSM questions. The LHCb experiment is one of four large experiments at the LHC and is designed to study in detail the decays of hadrons containing b or c quarks. The goal is to identify the existence of new physics beyond the Standard Model by examining the properties of hadrons containing these quarks. The new physics, or new forces, can be manifest by particles, as yet to be discovered, whose presence would modify decay rates and CP violating asymmetries of hadrons containing the b and c quarks, allowing new phenomena to be observed indirectly. U.S. groups play a leading role in the physics analysis, hardware development, and computing of LHCb. This award will support the NSF-supported groups' share of common items necessary for the experiment, maintenance and operations support for U.S.-delivered components, co-location of an LHCb Tier-2 computing facility, and R&D to optimize the operation of the experiment. The broader impacts of this award cover many areas, from student research experiences for graduate and undergraduate students, to very active QuarkNet Centers and Masterclass programs for high school teachers and students. A steady stream of undergraduates has been working in the participating university laboratories, where graduate students also have direct engagement in both instrumentation development as well as data analysis. Undergraduate and graduate students will be direct participants in the fabrication, testing, and maintenance of detector components under U.S. responsibility. Early career and nontraditional researchers will be integral participants in this exciting program of research. 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.