The heaviest of quarks that is so heavy that it decays before it can even hadronize, giving us an opportunity to study "bare" quarks.

study  of exotic, new  physics models using simulation tools such as MADGRAPH

  (Experimental)

Cosmological measurements show that about 85% of the matter, labeled as dark matter, in the universe does not interact with electromagnetic radiation such as light, and cannot be described by the Standard Model particles, current theory of fundamental particles and their interaction.  

We are working on LZ Dark Matter Experiment located at Sanford Underground Research Facility, nearly 1 mile underground, in Lead South Dakota. It employs liquified Xenon to detect interaction of the dark matter particles with the Xenon nucleus. The dark matter particle imparts energy to Xenon nucleus which is subsequently released as charged particles and electromagnetic radiation.  

We will work on calibration of observed energy and develop software to analyze the data using PYTHON and ROOT.

 (Experimental)

Sponsors: Professor Sarah Eno and Mr. Yihui Lai

Scientists explore the fundamental particles and forces using high energy particle colliders such as the Large Hadron Collider.  Large experimental apparatuses such as the CMS detector are used to identify the types of particles produced in the collisions and measure their energies and momenta.  An essential subdetector in all modern high energy physics experiments is the calorimeter.  In the past, calorimeter design could be optimized either for the measurement of photons/electrons or for hadrons (particles containing quarks).  However, simulations of a new proposed calorimeter (https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.00338) suggest precision measurements of both are possible using modern techniques.  However, the efficacy of this calorimeter depends on the details of the underlying simulation of nuclear interactions.  In this project, we will:

·       Learn how to simulate a simple calorimeter using GEANT4

·       Learn how to run the simulation of the calorimeter used for the work in the paper

·       Vary the parameters of the nuclear physics model in GEANT4 to see how to affects the production of low velocity protons in the shower crucial to this type of calorimeter

There are many different modes of production that we can search.  One of these is precision studies of the known production modes of the W and Z bosons at the LHC can provide hints of new physics beyond the standard model. Some of the new physics models the current analysis at UMD will set limits on are:

(Computing)

The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) at the Large Hadron Collider . is composed of four levels, or  “Tiers”, called 0, 1, 2 and 3. Each Tier is made up of several computer centers and provides a  specific set of services. Between them, the tiers process, store and analyze all the data from the  Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

One such computing Tier3 centre is owned by the Physics High Energy group at the University of Maryland.

If you are interested in computing and management tools being used by one of the largest labs in the world, this is the place to be.