The Cincinnati group is expert in Flavor Physics and continues to make significant contributions to the physics of charm and heavy quarks. These contributions have come most recently through participation in the BaBar Experiment, whose active operations have ended, but whose data legacy is extensive and is being currently mined for important physics results. The Cincinnati group is now transitioning to the LHCb experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, which is currently in an intense data-taking phase for 2012, and which will segue into an analysis and upgrade phase during the period 2013-2014.
In the physics of BaBar, Cincinnati is focusing on a mixing analysis of neutral D decays, on a precision measurement of the mass difference between charged and neutral D mesons, and absolute mass measurements of charged and neutral D mesons. At LHCb the group will work on charm mixing and CP Violation, studies that can assess indirectly high mass scales and provide powerful constraints on models for new physics beyond the standard model. Among the processes of interest are three-body decays of neutral D mesons with Kshort mesons in the final state and amplitude analyses of four-body neutral D decays. Technically, the group intends to make contributions to the LHCb High Level Trigger with emphasis on increasing the efficiency of charm decays, and notably increasing the sensitivity to triggering on Kshort mesons. For the LHCb upgrades, the group will be working on tracking simulation, and in the domain of core computing, the group will contribute to the maintenance of the Conditions Database.
The Cincinnati group has a strong record in education and outreach, and has had a very active QuarkNet Center since 2004, which offers local and regional high school teachers and students several opportunities. Among these are opportunities for teachers and students to participate directly in the research program; participation in QuarkNet International Masterclasses; and through their annual Teachers' Institute, the group has helped local high school teachers introduce particle physics and related topics in modern physics into their courses.
