High Energy Physics Research at LHC with the CMS Experiment

One of the major intellectual achievements of the 20th century was the development of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. This model succeeded in classifying all of the elementary particles known at the time into a hierarchy of groups having similar quantum properties. The validity of this model to date was recently confirmed by the discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. However, the Standard Model as it currently exists leaves open many questions about the universe, including such fundamental questions as to why the Higgs mass has the value it has. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the premier Energy Frontier particle accelerator operating at the CERN laboratory near Geneva Switzerland. It is currently one of the foremost facilities for answering these Beyond the Standard Model questions and studying the properties of the Higgs boson. One of the primary functions of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the LHC is to discover new physics beyond the Standard Model. The work proposed here will analyze data from the CMS experiment looking for signals of Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics. This award will fund two aspects of the CMS experiment: 1) further searches for BSM physics and 2) help build the CMS Phase I forward pixel detector (FPix) upgrade, which will enhance the ability of CMS to discover BSM physics. Some of the BSM theoretical predictions include several different Higgs boson that have enhanced coupling to b-quarks. This award will allow an improved b-quark study using a multivariate regression technique to better estimate the b-jet energy scale and thereby improve on the Higgs boson mass resolution. This so-called jet substructure technique is important for all the physics results coming out of CMS, as many decay channels require improved jet energy corrections. Another BSM search that this award provides is the search for a heavy vector boson (generally referred to as Z prime) predicted to decay to a ttbar pair of quarks. The final state of this ttbar decay is b-jets, again, benefiting from the jet energy correction work in this award. The award also provides important parts of the FPix upgrade which are being tested at FermiLab. The CMS Forward pixel upgrade will allow the precise vertex location, needed for all physics studies, even in the harsh environment (very high luminosity) expected in near future LHC running. The CMS Forward Pixel Detector uses state-of-the art silicon technology for particle detection combined with equally sophisticated readout electronics. Innovative techniques of radiation hard technology and bump bonding have been used in the current detector to meet the real estate challenges in a high radiation environment. These techniques would greatly enhance the life span of detectors used in outer space research and improve bio-sensing miniature devices for medical applications.