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Examples of 10 week (bachelor) and master projects at the division of experimental high energy

ATLAS project
ALICE projects
ILC projects

As all the projects requires extensive use of computers the division organizes a 1-3 week common introductory course for new students. Read more here.


LHC Schedule

The first real data from the LHC is here!! Currently we have 7 TeV p+p collisions and expect first Pb+Pb collisions at the end of 2010.<

We expect 7 TeV collisions also during 2011 and then a long shutdown while upgrading to design energy. (14 TeV).


ATLAS - a new powerful particle physics detector at LHC

The ATLAS experiment is one of the two largest experiments at the new Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland.
ATLAS is designed to search for novel particles such as the Higgs and supersymmetric partners of the ordinary matter particles in proton-proton collisions at the worlds most powerful accelerator which saw first collisions in late 2009.

The Lund group is deeply involved in commissioning of ATLAS and in LHC physics studies on many fronts, in particular physics beyond the Standard Model. Physics beyond the Standard Model relates to the fact there are some intrinsic problems in the present Standard Model and it is expected to be disproved at the LHC. We are studying the experimental signatures of several models with the potential to solve the problems of the Standard Model and we are also working on early physics measurements (b mesons, tracking, luminosity measurements) that will be possible already with the first data.

Examples of projects:

  • Standard model and detector performance
    • - Lepton identification using resonances
    • - Studies of Quarkonia: These quark - anti-quark resonances can teach us not only about the performance of the detector but also about the underlying physics model. The production mechanism is still not understood and for the last accelerator start up , the predictions were wrong by more than a factor of 10.
    • - Jet cleaning cuts with calorimeter cells/clusters.
    • - Participation in the calibration of the TRT. Analysis of TRT data with focus on determining the position and momentum resolution.
  • Simulation and analysis of exotic signals: New physics is expected to show up but there are many competing models, such as supersymmetry, extra dimensions, black holes, 4th generation fermions, multiple higgs bosons, and many more. Pick your favorite model and study the final states with leptons, jets, and missing energy needed to discover (or exclude) it. Signal extraction and Background suppression techniques for the different channels.
    Some possibilities:
    • - dilepton charge ratios low or high momenta
    • - Etmiss Based signature searches in 0-lepton, one-lepton or two-lepton channels.
    • - single-jet analysis in Split-SUSY scenarios (long-lived signatures).
    • - Phenomenology studies

    For more information please contact Oxana Smirnova or Else Lytken.


    ALICE - searching for the quark gluon plasma at LHC

    The ALICE experiment is dedicated to the study of heavy ion physics at LHC.
    In heavy ion physics, heavy ions, such as gold (Au) and lead (Pb), are collided to study the properties of hot and dense mater. The goal is to discover and characterize a new phase of matter called the quark gluon plasma.

    On the detector side the Lund group has been involved in constructing the ALICE Time Projection Chamber (TPC) - a 90 cubic meter gas detector for tracking the charged particles produced in each collision.
    On the analysis side we want to study multiple parton interactions in pp collisions and to investigate jet fragmentation medium modifications in Pb+Pb collisions, but many more possibilities are open.

    Examples of projects:

    • TPC calibration with laser data. By analyzing the laser data it is possible to determine at the sub-millimeter level the distortions caused by imperfections in the electric field and misalignment between the magnetic and the electric field (so called ExB effects).
    • Particle identification at high pT. High pT particles are the results of jet fragmentation. We want to use the TPC dE/dx to identify these particles - a challenging analysis. We hope to understand better the jet production and fragmentation in pp collisions in particular for high multiplicity collisions. This gives us the baseline for understanding the similar process in heavy ion collisions. In heavy ion collisions we know from lower energy that the production and fragmentation is significantly modified due to the hot and dense medium.
    • Optimization of particle identification at high pT with dE/dx. The TPC dE/dx resolution is reduced by correlations between measurements of the energy loss due to detector effects. As these effects are well understood one might be able to improve the resolution considerably.
    • Particle number fluctuations. Particle number fluctuations has been proposed as an indication of the phase transition between hadronic matter and the Quark Gluon Plasma. This work can be done with ALICE data, but the group is also involved in the PHENIX experiment at BNL where a lot of data has been accumulated since 2000.

    All projects can be adjusted to fit as either a 10 week project or a master project of 6-12 months.

    For more information please contact Peter Christiansen, Anders Oskarsson or Evert Stenlund.


    ILC - building the detectors for tomorrow

    The International Linear Collider (ILC) is being proposed as a future electron-positron collider for high precision studies of the constants of nature and the particles that are foreseen to be discovered at LHC.

    The Lund group is involved in the design of a new readout system for a TPC tracking chamber based on a new technology (GEMs) and state of the art electronics. Test data have been accumulated at experiment at DESY in Hamburg and future tests are foreseen.

    The project would involve both data analysis and participation in tests at DESY.

    For more information please contact Leif Jönsson, Anders Oskarsson, or Peter Christiansen.

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