Heavy ion physics withthe ATLAS detector

Soon after the LHC is commissioned with proton beams the ATLAS experiment will begin studies of Pb-Pb collisions with a center of mass energy of $\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 5.5$ TeV. The ATLAS program is a natural extension of measurements at RHIC in a direction that exploits the higher LHC energies and the superb ATLAS calorimeter and tracking coverage. At LHC energies, collisions will be produced with even higher energy density than observed at RHIC. The properties of the resulting hot medium can be studied with higher energy probes, which are more directly interpreted through modification of jet properties emerging from these collisions, for example. Other topics which are enabled by the 30-fold increase in center of mass energy include probing the partonic structure of nuclei with deep inelastic photoproduction (in UltraPeripheral Collisions) and in p-Pb collisions. Here we report on evaluation of ATLAS capabilities for Heavy Ion Physics.     

An Investigation of Signal Kinematical Region to Study Standard Model Higgs Boson Properties in the H → WW* → ℓvℓv Decay Channel in the ATLAS Experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at 13 TeV

A signal kinematical region is analyzed by the Higgs Boson Working Group (HWW) within the framework of a study of the Standard Model Higgs boson properties in the H → WW* → evεv decay channel in the ATLAS experiment on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The analysis is based on the full statistics of proton-proton collision data during exposures in 2015–2016 at the center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. As compared to our previous analysis, the reconstruction software is updated and the simulation accuracy of backgrounds is improved. Events taken at low and high LHC luminosity are studied separately. In addition, the kinematics at the later stages of event selection is investigated in detail and systematic uncertainties are fully estimated. It is shown that the Monte Carlo modeling satisfactorily describes the experimental data at different selection stages. Kinematic distributions for hadron jets are studied also in the Z-boson control region, where the acquired data reach the order of ten million events. As compared to the previous investigation, the modeling accuracy of Z and background processes is noticeably improved, and events at low and high LHC luminosities are studied separately. Furthermore, all systematic uncertainties related to jets are estimated as well. As a whole, good agreement between experimental results and Monte Carlo simulation data is observed. No problems that would be caused by high luminosity are observed.

     

Precision Higgs coupling measurements at the LHC through ratios of production cross sections

The European Physical Journal C - Now that the Higgs particle has been observed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC, the next endeavor would be to probe its fundamental properties and to...     

CMS实验中希格斯粒子的寻找

2012年7月4日,欧洲核子研究中心(CERN)的大型强子对撞机(LHC)上进行的两个实验—ATLAS实验和CMS实验,发现了一个质量大约为125 GeV的新粒子。这个粒子后来进一步被证实,其与粒子物理标准模型预言的希格斯粒子的属性相吻合。文章首先简单介绍了希格斯粒子及其发现历程,以及LHC上进行的CMS实验,然后主要介绍了CMS上希格斯粒子的发现和它的性质的测量结果,以及中国科学家们在其中做出的重要贡献。     

Z-Boson Control Region and Search for a Heavy Higgs Boson in H → WW → ℓvℓv Decay Channel in Proton—Proton Collisions at 13 TeV with the ATLAS Experiment at LHC

The control region of Z-bosons produced in pp collisions at 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at LHC is studied. This investigation, carried out by the authors as members of the HWW working group, is aimed at checking the algorithms applied for reconstructing the H → WW → ℓvℓv decays of a hypothetical heavy Higgs boson (HHB) sought by the LHC experiments. The analysis relies on the complete sample of proton-proton collisions recorded by ATLAS in 2015–2016 and pays special attention to variations of hadron-jet kinematic characteristics with the collider luminosity. A dedicated software package within the HWW information medium is developed and implemented for plotting kinematic distributions for correlated jets as functions of the number of collisions per beam crossing and of the number of primary vertices per event. On the whole, mean values of kinematic characteristics are found to follow linear dependences on the luminosity which are adequately reproduced by the simulation. Since the hadron-jet selection criteria are similar for the hypothetical HHB and for the Standard Model Higgs boson (SM H) already discovered at the LHC, the reported analysis is also relevant for experimental studies of the SM H properties. In this paper, we also report on initial results of the new search for the HHB at 13 TeV based on ameliorated event reconstruction algorithms and updated software. No significant differences between the results of the new and previous analyses are revealed.

     

Heavy-ion physics with the ATLAS detector

The CERN LHC collider will operate with lead ions at √s of 5.5 TeV/nucleon. The ATLAS detector, designed to study high-pT physics in the pp mode of the LHC, has the potential to study ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions in a full range of observables characterized extremely dense matter and the formation of a quark-gluon plasma. The ATLAS physics program includes global event measurements (particle multiplicities, transverse momentum), suppression of heavy-quarkonia production, jet quenching, and a study of ultraperipheral collisions. (on behalf of the ATLAS Collaboration) The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Modeling the drift properties of gas mixtures of a GasPixel detector for upgrading the ATLAS setup

The results of modeling the drift properties of gas mixtures for a GasPixel detector that would provide highly accurate track data at high luminosity values in the inner detector of the ATLAS setup at the Super LHC collider are presented.     

希格斯粒子及其实验寻找和发现

希格斯机制引入基本粒子物理的标准模型,解决了规范对称性自发破缺和粒子质量起源的问题,希格斯粒子成为粒子物理实验的最重要寻找目标。2012年大型强子对撞机(LHC)上的环状螺线管(ATLAS)和紧凑缪子螺线管(CMS)两个实验,分别以超过5倍标准偏差的统计显著性发现了与希格斯粒子性质一致的新粒子。     

Discovery potential of R-hadrons with the ATLAS detector

The production of exotic heavy hadronic particles arises in several models for physics beyond the standard model. The focus is on R-hadrons, which are stable hadronized gluinos, predicted by certain supersymmetric models. Interactions and signatures of single R-hadrons are studied with the ATLAS simulation and reconstruction framework. The ATLAS fast simulation framework has been extended to include parameterizations for R-hadrons. Based on topological and kinematic variables only, the discovery potential of the ATLAS detector for R-hadron events produced in , is studied for masses below 2 TeV/c². R-hadrons with masses as predicted by standard SUSY scenarios would be discovered already in the very early stages of the running of the LHC. The discovery reach of heavy gluinos, predicted by for example split supersymmetry models, extends up to at least 1.8 TeV/c² for three years running of the LHC at low luminosity.     

Universal behavior of transverse momentum distributions of baryons and mesons in the framework of percolation of strings

In the framework of percolation of strings, the transverse momentum distributions in AA and hh collisions at all centralities and energies show a universal behavior. The width of these distributions is related to the width of the distribution of the size of the clusters formed by the overlapping of the strings produced. The difference between the distributions for baryons and mesons originates in the fragmentation of clusters of several strings, which enhances the particles with a higher number of constituents. The results agree with SPS and RHIC data. The predictions for LHC show differences for baryons compared with RHIC. At LHC energies we obtain also a high p_T suppression for pp high multiplicity events compared with the pp minimum bias. PACS 25.75.Nq; 12.38.Mh; 24.85.+p     

Soft QCD in ATLAS: Minimum bias and diffraction studies

We present measurements of charged particle production in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 0.9, 2.36 and 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events were collected using a single-arm minimum bias trigger, charged tracks are measured with high precision in the inner tracking system. Minimum bias analysis uses data samples at all three energies, while diffractive events are studied using a sample of events at √s = 7 TeV. To study diffractive interactions, the events that have hits on exactly one side of the ATLAS detector were selected. The charged particle multiplicity, pseudorapidity and transverse momentum spectra are analyzed and compared to the predictions by various Monte Carlo models.     

The couplings of the Higgs boson and its CP properties from fits of the signal strengths and their ratios at the 7+8 TeV LHC

Using the full set of the LHC Higgs data from the runs at 7 and 8 TeV center of mass energies that have been released by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations, we determine the couplings of the Higgs particle to fermions and gauge bosons as well as its parity or CP composition. We consider ratios of production cross sections times decay branching fractions in which the theoretical (and some experimental) uncertainties as well as some ambiguities from new physics cancel out. A fit of both the signal strengths in the various search channels that have been conducted, H→ZZ,WW,γγ,ττ and $b\bar{b}$ , and their ratios shows that the observed ～126 GeV particle has couplings to fermions and gauge bosons that are Standard Model-like already at the 68 % confidence level (CL). From the signal strengths in which the theoretical uncertainty is taken to be a bias, the particle is shown to be at most 68 % CP-odd at the 99 %CL and the possibility that it is a pure pseudoscalar state is excluded at the 4σ level when including both the experimental and theoretical uncertainties. The signal strengths also measure the invisible Higgs decay width which, with the same type of uncertainty analysis, is shown to be $\varGamma_{H}^{\mathrm{inv}}/ \varGamma_{H}^{\mathrm{SM}} \leq0.52$ at the 68 %CL.     

Tau reconstruction, energy calibration and identification at ATLAS

Tau leptons play a central role in the LHC physics programme, in particular as an important signature in many Higgs boson and supersymmetry searches. They are further used in Standard Model electroweak measurements, as well as detector-related studies like the determination of the missing transverse energy scale. Copious backgrounds from QCD processes call for both efficient identification of hadronically decaying tau leptons, as well as large suppression of fake candidates. A solid understanding of the combined performance of the calorimeter and tracking detectors is also required. We present the current status of the tau reconstruction, energy calibration and identification with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Identification efficiencies are measured in W ?? ??? events in data and compared with predictions from Monte Carlo simulations, whereas the misidentification probabilities of QCD jets and electrons are determined from various jet-enriched data samples and from Z ?? ee events, respectively. The tau energy scale calibration is described and systematic uncertainties on both energy scale and identification efficiencies discussed.     

Micromegas chambers for the experiment ATLAS at the LHC (A Brief Overview)

The increase in luminosity and energy of the Large hadron collider (LHC) in the next upgrade (Phase-1) in 2018–2019 will lead to a significant increase in radiation load on the ATLAS detector, primarily in the areas close to the interaction point of the LHC proton beams. One of these regions is the Small Wheel of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer. It is planned to be replaced with the New Small Wheel that will have Micromegas chambers as main coordinate detectors. The paper gives an overview of all existing types of Micromegas detectors with special focus on the Micromegas chambers for the ATLAS detector upgrade.     

Odd tracks at hadron colliders

New physics that exhibits irregular tracks such as kinks, intermittent hits, or decay in flight may easily be missed at hadron colliders. We demonstrate this by studying viable models of light, O(10 GeV), colored particles that decay predominantly inside the tracker. Such particles can be produced at staggering rates, and yet, may not be identified or triggered on at the LHC, unless specifically searched for. In addition, the models we study provide an explanation for the original measurement of the anomalous charged track distribution by CDF. The presence of irregular tracks in these models reconcile that measurement with the subsequent reanalysis and the null results of ATLAS and CMS. Our study clearly illustrates the need for a comprehensive study of irregular tracks at the LHC.     

Prospectives of the hadron program in ATLAS

One of the first measurements that will be made at the LHC by ATLAS deals with the properties of inelastic collisions,namely the central charged particle density and transverse momentum distributions.Current predictions of these distributions have large uncertainties in the LHC energy range.We describe the ATLAS minimum bias triggers,designed to select all kind of inelastic interactions,and the performance of the track reconstruction software which was adapted to soft particle track reconstruction.The precision with which the minimum bias distributions can be measured with early data is presented and the uncertainties on the inelastic distributions due to trigger bias is discussed.     

Prospects to search for E<Subscript>6</Subscript> isosinglet quarks in ATLAS

We consider pair production of new down-type isosinglet quarks originating from E₆, which is the favorite gauge symmetry group in superstring inspired GUT models. The study concentrates on the possibility of observing the pair production of the lightest of the new quarks, D, in the ATLAS detector at the forthcoming LHC accelerator, in the channel DD̄→ZjZj . Both signal and background events are studied using tree level event generators based on Monte Carlo techniques. The detector effects are taken into account using the ATLAS fast simulation tool. It is shown that ATLAS can observe the D quark within the first year of low luminosity LHC operation if its mass is less than 650 GeV. For the case of two years of full luminosity running, 1 TeV can be reached with about three sigma significance.     

Analysis facility infrastructure (Tier-3) for ATLAS experiment

In the ATLAS computing model the tiered hierarchy ranged from the Tier-0 (CERN) down to desktops or workstations (Tier-3). The focus on defining the roles of each tiered component has evolved with the initial emphasis on the Tier-0 and Tier-1 definition and roles. The various LHC (Large Hadron Collider) projects, including ATLAS, then evolved the tiered hierarchy to include Tier-2’s (Regional centers) as part of their projects. Tier-3 centres, on the other hand, have been defined as whatever an institution could construct to support their Physics goals using institutional and otherwise leveraged resources and therefore have not been considered to be part of the official ATLAS computing resources. However, Tier-3 centres are going to exist and will have implications on how the computing model should support ATLAS physicists. Tier-3 users will want to access LHC data and simulations and will want to enable their resources to support their analysis and simulation work. This document will define how IFIC (Instituto de Física Corpuscular de Valencia), after discussing with the ATLAS Tier-3 task force, should interact with the ATLAS computing model, detail the conditions under which Tier-3 centres can expect some level of support and set reasonable expectations for the scope and support of ATLAS Tier-3 sites.