This proposal requests continuing support for a program of research at Michigan State University in experimental elementary particle physics based principally on the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron proton-antiproton collider and the ATLAS experiment that is scheduled to start operations in 2007 at the proton-proton Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland. The group is a charter member of the D0 experiment having responsibility for major pieces of the trigger system, playing leadership roles in managing the experiment and in extracting physics during the data analysis process. They propose to continue their work on the D0 trigger system and to participate in data taking and analysis activities, including top physics, Higgs physics, and new phenomena. In the ATLAS collaboration, the group has responsibility for the design and construction of elements of the trigger system and will work on integrating elements of the Level 2 trigger with the data acquisition system and in preparing for the upcoming physics program. A major part of their activity will be devoted to analyzing Monte Carlo data from the Data Challenges I and II in preparation for the commencement of the experimental program.
A fundamental feature of this group's efforts is education and outreach. They involve in their research members of groups traditionally under-represented in the field. They participate in QuarkNet and have recently given specialized courses and lectures to lay audiences.
