A principal goal of experiments in modern particle physics is to uncover and elucidate new physics beyond the Standard Model. Possible approaches include the study of physics processes at the highest available collision energies at accelerators or through studies of the very rare interactions of neutrinos. The Columbia Particle Physics group is engaged in both approaches, which are relevant to the understanding of the Universe at its most fundamental level in the fleeting fraction of a second just after the Big Bang, and to why we see the Universe as we do now.
At the highest available collision energies, the objectives of the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (the LHC) at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland is to understand the nature of the recently discovered Higgs Boson, and to uncover new physics beyond the Standard Model.  The next three years will witness the growth of the LHC physics program through ever higher interaction rates and ever increasing data sets at collision energies of 13-14 TeV.
The Columbia team is one of the leading groups participating in the ATLAS experiment at CERN. Their contributions include extensive involvement in the scientific and technical management of the experiment, substantial contributions to the maintenance and operations and upgrades of the key detectors for energy measurement, in particular the Liquid Argon Calorimetry. In the search for new physics, the group is focusing on searches for evidence of supersymmetry and for exotic particles of very high masses in a broad range of production and decay processes, involving vector bosons and the Higgs boson, and relying on the recognition of charged leptons, jets and missing energy. Â
Another major question is what happened to all the antimatter in the universe. Fundamental symmetry arguments suggest that matter and antimatter should have been produced in equal abundance in the early universe, but now all we see is matter. A key to unraveling this mystery may lie with elusive particles called neutrinos, which are abundant in the universe, but which barely interact with matter. There are three of these particles known. Why three? And what are the masses of these particles? Are there more? Experiments are underway to understand these phenomena and to see if more than three neutrinos exist.Â
The Columbia group is involved with the experiment MicroBooNE, which is now online at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, and a new detector in preparation, called SBND. This program will address several of the key questions in neutrino physics, including the search of additional neutrinos as well as advancement of an important new technology for the field, the Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber. The Columbia group has major responsibilities for the readout electronics of the Time Projection Chamber and triggering system, detector simulation, data acquisition software, and physics analysis for MicroBooNE, and is advancing these efforts to the future Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE).
Broader Impacts: A principal focus of the Columbia group over many years and strengthened with this award is the training of undergraduate students through their highly successful Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) summer program. This program has demonstrated a commitment to the inclusion of under-represented groups, including many students from undergraduate-only institutions. And follow-up tracking has shown an impressive rate of success for graduates of their programs to pursue advanced degrees in STEM fields.
