The Experimental Particle Physics group concentrates its efforts on the following three activities: DØ, CMS, and the Pierre Auger Observatory.
DØ
The DØ detector in the Tevatron collider at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois measures the products of 2 TeV head-on collisions of protons and antiprotons. The large data set at D0 is used for the study of such massive particles as the top quark and for searches for new heavy states like the Higgs boson. At Northeastern we are participating in the trigger system, in identification quark and gluon jets, in event and data visualization, in the search for the Higgs boson, and in the production of pairs of weak gauge bosons. Post-doctoral fellow: Dr Joseph Haley.
Compact Muon Solenoid at LHC
The CMS detector recently began operations at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located near Geneva, Switzerland. The LHC is currently colliding protons at 7 TeV, the highest energy available in the world. At Northeastern we are supporting the end cap muon detector and event visualization, and are searching for leptoquarks (exotic particles with properties of both leptons and quarks) and massive new gauge bosons (Steuckelberg Z-primes). Post-doctoral fellows include Dr Ketino Kaadze.
Pierre Auger Observatory
The Pierre Auger Observatory makes use of the one accelerator bigger than either the Tevatron or the LHC-the one that gives us cosmic rays from intergalactic space. Currently taking data with a fully instrumented detector covering 3000 square kilometers in Argentina, the PAO observes the showers of particles coming from ul>tra-high-energy cosmic rays. Northeastern is providing the overall software infrastructure for data analysis and is participating in several research projects, including searches for exotic particles produced at extremely high energies. Research personnel: Dr Thomas Paul, Prof. John Swain.
The Experimental Particle Physics faculty include Professors George Alverson, Emanuela Barberis, Toyoko Orimoto, John Swain, and Darien Wood.