RESEARCH ENTERPRISE
ATLAS Experiment
ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC Apparatus) is the larger of two general purpose detectors located at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in Geneva, Switzerland. This experiment is one of the largest collaborations in particle physics consisting of 38 countries, 174 universities and labs, 3000 scientists, and approximately 1000 students. The ATLAS detector is used to collect data from the proton-proton collisions of the LHC using high-resolution calorimeters and large superconductors. Louisiana Tech is particularly interested in data captured at ATLAS, so we may
- search for the Higgs,
- analyze the final state of Tau lepton events,
- refine how data is collected and jets are produced,
- study quantum chromodynamics,
- measure the strong coupling constant, and
- study top quark physics.
A particle closely matching the Higgs boson has been detected at ATLAS and the other general purpose experiment CMS and was announced in July 2012. Since the original announcement and using twice the data, the confidence of the observation of the Higgs boson has risen to 10 sigma. The Chi B (3P) particle was also discovered by ATLAS and was the first particle discovered at the LHC. The LCH has been in the process of upgrading and is to begin the collection of new data at twice the energy in 2015.
Research Highlights
Louisiana Tech and CAPS faculty (Dr. Sawyer and Dr. Greenwood) have contributed to the discovery of this century. After 12 years of construction and two years of data collection, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator has delivered unambiguous evidence of the existence of the Higgs boson. The Higgs boson, also known as the God particle, bestows mass to the rest of the fundamental particles. TEDx Louisiana Tech University: In an invited TED presentation entitled “Can Particle Physics Save the World”, Dr. Lee Sawyer discusses the practical aspects of high energy physics (May 9, 2012) (click on the photo to listen to the talk). G. Aad,. [ATLAS Collaboration], “Measurement of the top quark pair cross section with ATLAS in pp collisions at = 7 TeV using final states with an electron or a muon and a hadronically decaying ‘lepton‘,” Phys. Lett. B 717, 89-108(2012).
ATLAS Highlights
The Higgs: After 12 years of construction and two years of data collection the Large Hadron Collider (LHC in CERN) the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, has delivered unambiguous evidence of the existence of the Higgs boson. The Higgs boson, also known as the God’s particle, bestows mass to the rest of the fundamental particles. TEDx Louisiana Tech University: In an invited TED presentation entitled “Can Particle Physics Save the World”, Dr. Lee Sawyer discusses the practical aspects of high energy physics in a clear and concise way (May 9, 2012).