HEP Group : MSc/4th Year Research Projects in High Energy Particle Physics
In the 2012/13 session the HEP group will be running the projects
described on this page. Below you can find details of the projects and for which courses
(PHASM201, MSc) they are available.
Please feel free to
contact the supervisors directly to discuss the project.
| Supervisors: |
Dr. Mario Campanelli, Dr. Pauline Bernat |
| Title : |
The physics of jets at the Large Hadron Collider
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| Courses: |
PHASM201 |
| |
Fully hadronic final states are among the most important research
topics at the LHC (as the name also suggests), and the UCL group is
one of the leading groups for these studies in the Atlas experiment.
We can offer several projects (up to three students) on studies of jet
properties, substructures, studies of the difference between
quark-initiated and gluon-initiated jets. Some experience in coding is
preferred.
|
| Supervisor: |
Prof. Mark Lancaster |
| Title : |
New Physics From Muons
|
| Courses: |
PHASM201 |
| |
The discovery of the muon in 1937 was a defining moment in modern
physics and measurements of its properties have been central to
establishing the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. We know this
model is not complete and in most models that seek to explain why we
live in a universe where matter dominates the anti-matter it is
predicted that muons should decay/interact without the emission of
neutrinos. No such interactions or decays have yet been observed but
recent advances in accelerator technology mean we can produce
sufficient muons that an observation in the next 5 years is
possible. In this project you will be developing simulation code in
C++ under Linux to develop and optimise the design of an experiment
(COMET) that will search for the neutrinoless conversion of a muon to
an electron using the J-PARC accelerator in Japan. Such an observation
would be unambiguous evidence of new physics beyond the current
Standard Model.
|
| Supervisor: |
Prof. Robert Thorne |
| Title : |
Determining quarks in the proton
|
| Courses: |
PHASM201, MSc |
| |
The quark and gluon composition of the proton is a fundamental input
for the calculation of scattering processes at the LHC. The quark and
gluon distributions are obtained by comparing QCD calculations with
data to determine free parameters. This simplifies in the case of
neutrino scattering off nuclei where one probes directly the valence
quarks so detailed studies can be made in a theoretically clean
environment. The project involves writing a code to solve for the
evolution of the quarks with scale and to perform a best fit to data,
examining the effect of statistical and systematic data uncertainties
and of theoretical uncertainties in modelling the quark distributions.
|
| Supervisor: |
Prof. Ruben Saakyan |
| Title : |
Detector development for SuperNEMO neutrino experiment.
|
| Courses: |
PHASM201, MSc |
| |
Recent results from neutrino oscillation experiments have
revolutionised our thinking behind neutrinos by proving that they have
a non-zero mass. But what is the absolute value of neutrino mass and
why it is so much smaller compared to other fermions remains
unclear. The currently running and future neutrinoless double beta
decay experiments will focus on this and other fundamental questions
of particle physics.
To succeed the future experiments must have a
tremendous sensitivity to the neutrino mass of < 0.1 eV. To weigh such
a tiny particle (< 10-34 gram!) one has to use very sophisticated
and accurate detectors. The SuperNEMO project is one of the future
generation neutrinoless double beta decay experiments in which the UCL
group is involved. The detector is based very closely on the
technology used by the NEMO-III experiment currently running in the
Frejus underground laboratory on the French-Italian border. This
detector is capable of recording photographic quality images of double
beta decay events using a combination of a gas tracking chamber and a
scintillator calorimeter.
This is an experimental project for someone who is not afraid to "get one's hands dirty" in a lab.
You will have an opportunity to work on improvement of characteristics of photo-detectors which
are planned for use in SuperNEMO. You will also study the performance of the gas tracking detector
and attempt to optimise its design.
The experimental nature of this project will allow you to be involved in
major stages of a typical particle physics experiment, from
putting an experimental setup together, making the electronics readout and
computer based data acquisition system work to the analysis and physics interpretation of the
data which you will have produced yourself.
The outcome of your work may be used not only for SuperNEMO but also for other
experiments including some practical applications (e.g. more efficient
photo-detectors are important in medical physics and for sophisticated
diagnostic equipment such as tomographs).
Related links:
UCL NEMO web page
with some introductory information on double beta decay.
|
| Supervisor: |
Prof. Matthew Wing
|
| Title : |
Developing accelerators 1000 times more powerful than
current machines
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| Courses: |
PHASM201, MSc |
| |
The electric fields in conventional accelerators are limited due to the breakdown
under these high fields of the metal structures containing the beams. However, by firing a laser
or particle beam into a plasma, electric fields 1000 times greater can be
achieved, thereby leading to the possibility of future particle accelerators of
significantly reduced length and cost, both for fundamental research and medical
applications alike. This project will focus on the possibility of firing protons into a plasma
in order to accelerate electrons, following in the "wakefield", to TeV energies.
UCL is involved in a demonstrator experiment to be hosted in CERN to
verify this technique. We currently work in two areas, both or either of which
could be pursued as a project. To understand the potential physics and design of the
experiment, particle-in cell simulations are performed which tell us how the beam
and plasma evolves as the beam passes through the plasma. Many parameters of the
experiment still need to be optimised such as plasma length and denisty and beam
energy and denisty. This will provide valuable computing skills, using UCL's
supercomputer, as well as a deep understaing of the physics involved. The other
aspect is the design and experimental work we are doing on developing diagnostic
equipment so as to measure the characteristics of the beams and plasma. This will
involve doing experiments and/or data analysis in order to determine the detailed
structure of the plasma and its wakefield.
Both the physics simulation and diagnostic development will contribute
to the realisation of the demonstrator experiment at CERN which will
itself potentially lead to the next particle physics accelerator at the high-energy frontier.
| Supervisor: |
Prof. Matthew Wing
|
| Title : |
Visualising extreme states of matter and nanomaterials with the
world's best cameras
|
| Courses: |
PHASM201, MSc |
| |
The European X-ray Free Electron Laser (EuXFEL) being built in
Hamburg, Germany, will be the brightest light source in the world. It
will benefit many areas of science, from creating extreme states of
matter in plasma physics, seeing chemical reactions and investigating
new nanomaterials or the structure of large biomolecules such as
proteins. An intense photon beam impacts on a sample and the
diffractive pattern is seen in large, digital mega-pixel cameras, of
which several different designs exist. This project will focus on
understanding the physics of these relatively low energy (~10 keV)
photons interacting with the silicon detectors and developing new
models which can then be applicable for all processes independent of
the camera used. This will include models of charge sharing in a
semi-conductor and thermal noise estimation. The models developed
will be based on fits to different data or phenomenological ideas.
The work will involve coding these simulations into a software
framework and comparison with data, including, possibly, brand new
data from this year using prototype cameras inserted into a beamline
in Hamburg. The results of this work will allow better imaging of the
various samples to be probed at the future EuXFEL and hence provide a
clearer view of the science. Such simulations and understanding of
the underlying physics will be beneficial to other light sources as
well as, potentially, astrophysics and medical imaging.
| Supervisor: |
Prof. Matthew Wing
|
| Title : |
Particle Physics Beyond the Standard Model - can muons convert to
electrons ?
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| Courses: |
PHASM201, MSc |
| |
In the next two years or so the LHC will hopefully reveal new physics
beyond the Standard Model of Particle Physics. Such new physics is
likely to point the way towards the Grand Unified Theories (GUTs)
unifying Quantum Mechanics and Gravity. In such GUTs it is generally
predicted that the conservation of lepton number is not sacrosanct,
such that processes where muons convert to electrons (without
associated neutrinos) are predicted to occur. In the Standard Model the rate of such
processes is almost zero (1 in 1050) and too small to measure and so
any observation of muons converting to electrons will signal new physics.
It is only the models that can simultaneously explain the new physics in the LHC
data and the muon to electron conversion data that can be considered as part of
a GUT.
In this project you will
develop simulation programmes (in C++ on Linux) to model a proposed
experiment (COMET) that is seeking to measure (or place a limit) on
the rate at which muons convert into electrons. The simulation programmes will model the
production of muons via a proton beam interacting with a target and their selection via curved
solenoidal magnets and the detectors used to measure electrons. The results of your work
will be used to optimise the design of the experiment to maximise the
sensitivity to new physics beyond the Standard Model.
If you enjoy cutting edge programming and defining the future of particle physics,
this is one for you !
| Supervisor: |
Prof. Jon Butterworth, Dr. Ben Waugh
|
| Title : |
Modelling the highest energy collisions in the world (2 Projects)
|
| Courses: |
PHASM201, MSc |
| |
The student will use the Rivet software toolkit to compare data from
particle colliders with the predictions of Monte Carlo models, and
will contribute to Rivet by writing additional modules in C++. The
project provides an opportunity to learn about current research in
high-energy physics and would suit someone with experience in
programming.
|
| Supervisor: |
Dr Ryan Nichol
|
| Title : |
Preventing terrorism using cosmic ray muons
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| Courses: |
PHASM201, MSc |
| |
Cosmic ray muon tomography is an imaging technique that utilises
cosmic rays to create images of matter density. The CREAM TEA (Cosmic Ray Extensive Area Mapping for Terrorism Evasion Application) project
proposes to utilise this technique to monitor large enclosed public
spaces, such as train stations, for unusual dense objects, such as
bombs.
This project will research the feasibility of the method using
standard particle physics simulation and data analysis tools, GEANT and ROOT. The results of the simulation will be validated using data from the CREAM TEA scintillator test-stand.
|
| Supervisor: |
Dr Ryan Nichol
|
| Title : |
Neutrino fishing in Antarctica
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| Courses: |
PHASM201, MSc |
| |
There are several current and currently proposed experiments to
utilise the Antarctic ice as a target medium for a gigantic ultra-high
energy neutrino telescope. This project will simulate the sensitivity
of the proposed ARIANNA experiment, which plans to deploy large
numbers of semi-autonomous radio detectors across the Ross Ice Shelf
to search for the elusive particles.
The simulation will be used to optimise the design for the full ARIANNA array, in terms of station arrangement, antenna specifications and trigger conditions. These findings will influence the choices made in the final design of the experiment, which will be deploying it's first prototype station to Antarctica this coming Austral summer.
|
| Supervisor: |
Dr Emily Nurse
|
| Title : |
Investigating new techniques to find Higgs events at the LHC
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| Courses: |
PHASM201 |
| |
The discovery (or exclusion) of the elusive Higgs boson is an essential
next step in experimental particle physics, and is indeed one of the main
aims of CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva, Switzerland. The aim
of this project is to investigate new techniques to distinguish collisons
that produce a Higgs boson from those that produce less interesting
particles. You will study a Higgs production process known as Vector Boson
Fusion, which has the distinguishing feature that the Higgs is produced in
association with very few additional particles close by. You will try out
techniques that utilise this feature to identify Higgs events. This
project will start just as the LHC begins operation, giving you the
oppurtunity to really contribute to the forefront of fundamental research!
You will be using and developing C++ programmes on Linux.
|
| Supervisor: |
Dr David Waters
|
| Title : |
Investigation and Simulation Studies of Coherent Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering
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| Courses: |
PHASM201 |
| |
Neutrino interaction cross-sections are tiny. However in a certain kinematic regime the neutrinos
can scatter coherently from the entire nucleus, resulting in a much enhanced cross-section. This
process has not yet been observed but could provide fundamental tests of the Standard Model and
furthermore could have a number of interesting applications.
This project will start with a literature survey to understand the process of coherent neutrino-
nucleus scattering, followed by some calculations and more detailed simulations to investigate the
most promising techniques for observing coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering. Potential applications,
in particular fission reactor monitoring, will also be investigated.
Modelling/programming (computer based)
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Copyright © 2004-2012 UCL HEP group,
(last modified 07 Apr 2013)
