2014 2014 ARC CENTRE Of ExCELLENCE fOR PARTiCLE PhysiCs AT ThE TERAsCALE COEPP

104 Pages·2015·13.59 MB·English

2014
T
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ARC CENTRE Of
ExCELLENCE
P
fOR PARTiCLE
PhysiCs AT
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ThE TERAsCALE
R

COEPP.ORg.AU
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2014
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C EPP

ARC Centre of Excellence for
Particle Physics at the Terascale
CONTENTS
ABOUT dEvELOPmENT
About CoEPP 03 Annual scientific workshop 2014 55
Director's report 04 CoEPP-CAASTRO dark matter workshop 2014 56
Chair’s report 06 GAMBIT workshop 57
Report from IAC 07 ATLAS upgrade workshop 57
Structure and governance 08
OUTREACH ANd ENGAGEmENT
PERSONNEL International masterclass 60
Chief investigators 13 Virtual masterclass 60
Additional academic staff 14 Work experience week 61
Honorary fellows and associates 14 The Science of Dr Who 62
Partner investigators 15 National Science Week TEDxCERN@Monash 63
Postdoctoral researchers 15
PUBLICATIONS
Professional staff 17
Refereed journal articles 65
Students 18
Refereed conference proceedings 72
RESEARCH Conference presentations 73
Overview 25 CoEPP-organised workshops and seminars 76
The Higgs Program 26
PERFORmANCE
Higgs physics - theory 28
Awards and recognition 79
Searching for the origin of mass at the LHC 30
Key Performance Indicators 81
Precision tests of the Standard Model 32
Financial Report 90
Searching for Supersymmetry 35
Centre impact 94
Dark Matter 38
Detailed activity plan 96
Searching for exotic mesons at ATLAS 40
Case study 98
Research Computing 42
List of terms and abbreviations 100
Collaborations 44
Research facilities 50
Additional activities 52
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ANNUAL REPORT 2014
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AbOuT COEPP
The ARC Centre of Excellence for Particle investigating matter under conditions that have
not existed since the big bang and producing and
Physics at the Terascale (CoEPP) is a
studying dark matter in the laboratory.
collaborative research venture between
The Centre will lead the nation in the pursuit of knowledge
the Universities of Melbourne, Adelaide,
of the fundamental laws of particle physics, through
Sydney and Monash. a deepening engagement in the international field of
high-energy particle physics.
The Centre fosters linkages between experimental
and theoretical particle physics, further links Australian mISSION
research to significant international research centres,
establishes strong Australian Grid and Cloud computing To enable young Australian scientists direct access to
expertise and further develops accelerator technologies this most exciting field of endeavour on a footing where
in Australia. they will be competitive with their international peers.
vISION To inspire a new generation of young Australians
to pursue careers in science and technology.
The Centre will exploit a once-in-a-generation
opportunity for fundamental scientific research in To lead Australia in the field of high-energy physics
Australia made possible through its involvement with research and to establish national awareness,
the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. These opportunities pride and longevity in this field through international
include the prospect of understanding the origin of collaboration, excellence in research training, and
mass, discovering new physical laws, recreating and opportunity for engagement.
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2014 was another big year for CoEPP even
introduced a separate summer school for our research
though the Large Hadron Collider was in higher degree students just prior to the conference,
giving them a great introduction to their research careers.
the first of its planned long shutdowns
(LS1) for essential upgrades. A variety of different workshops was held over the year
where Centre researchers could come together to
discuss important developments in their specific fields
Our researchers persisted with the analysis of petabytes of research. Adelaide hosted a GAMBIT collaboration
of data from the ATLAS experiment and preparations workshop early in 2014. The GAMBIT collaboration is
Professor
for the LHC’s restart in 2015 were well underway. When an international team of particle astrophysicists and
Geoff Taylor
the LHC restarts in mid 2015, it will be operating at 13 statisticians based at institutes including Harvard,
Centre Director
University of Melbourne TeV collision energy up from 8 TeV previously with the Imperial College London and Stockholm universities.
increased capacity for discovery.
CoEPP researchers – from students to chief investigators –
Our experimental research is underpinned by a were recognised in 2014 through prestigious awards.
strong theoretical understanding of the physics. The Most notably was Bruce McKellar’s receipt of the
collaboration between theorists and experimentalists is Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for “eminent
a mark of the Centre’s success in changing the way that service to science, particularly the study of theoretical
high-energy physics research is carried out in Australia, physics, as an academic, educator and researcher,
bringing critical mass through collaborative approaches. through seminal contributions to scientific development
organisations, and as an author and mentor." Bruce also
Some key innovative work is being performed by our officially took the reins as President of the International
experimentalists. The analysis of the Higgs decay mode Union of Pure and Applied Physics. IUPAP is the peak
into tau-leptons, so important for comparison with international body that fosters worldwide cooperation
Standard Model predictions, in which our team played in physics; Bruce is the first president to come from the
a critical role was released in October. Southern Hemisphere.
Continued interest in searches for evidence of dark Our Associate Director and Adelaide node Director
matter candidates has seen an important collaborative Anthony Thomas was named South Australian
effort between CoEPP theorists and experimentalists Scientist of the Year, which honours an individual who
in the interestingly titled Mono-X analyses. demonstrates outstanding excellence in science and has
made significant national or international contribution
The AIDA (An Inclusive Dilepton Analysis) approach, to their field of research. Research student Phiala
providing both a model-independent search for new Shanahan International Women's Day Committee SA
physics and simultaneous measurement of fundamental Young Women’s Community and Spirit Award, which
Standard Model phenomena, was further developed in recognises outstanding achievements and dedication
2014, and extended to measurements of top-quark pair of young South Australian women aged 12 to 30 years.
production.
As an indication of the strengthening of the particle
Our theorists continue to advance their work on Higgs physics community in Australia, through CoEPP,
boson properties, collider phenomenology and model a major initiative to establish an underground laboratory
building as they forge ahead in the quest to pin down in the Stawell gold mine is taking shape. Led by
the fundamental origin of the electroweak symmetry Melbourne Chief Investigator Elisabetta Barberio,
breaking. Theoretical research into neutrino mass taking advantage of her strong connections with Italian
generation models continues, as does supersymmetry researchers at the Gran Sasso underground facility, the
and dark matter models. first southern hemisphere direct dark matter search is
under development. An Italian delegation participated
Our annual scientific conference is a key point for cross- in our joint CoEPP/CAASTRO workshop on dark matter
node and cross-discipline collaboration. In 2014 we searches held at the Great Western Winery near Stawell
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“ CoEPP researchers – from students to chief investigators –
were recognised in 2014 through prestigious awards. Most
notably was Bruce McKellar’s receipt of the Companion of the
Order of Australia (AC). ”
in late September. The delegation, accompanied through public lectures and events. For National Science
by Elisabetta Barberio, David Varvel and myself, met Week, CoEPP – in partnership with AusHEP – hosted
with politicians and bureaucrats in Canberra (followed a series of highly engaging talks on the subject of dark
by a dinner hosted by the Italian Ambassador) and matter by Prof Juan Collar, one of the world’s leading
Melbourne. experts in dark matter research. Other public activities
included supporting The Science of Dr Who, a stage
Of critical importance to particle physics is the access show that featured Centre researchers David Jennens
to very large computing resources. Australia contributes and Martin White, and TEDxCERN@Monash – an official
to the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) as part delayed telecast of the TEDxCERN event.
of the commitment to the experimental program. CoEPP
has developed and operates the Australia-ATLAS Tier-2 During the year Chief Investigator Prof Tony Gherghetta
computing facility, hosted at Melbourne, along with moved on to the University of Minnesota. Whilst he is no
Tier-3 facilities at Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. The longer a CI of the Centre, he continues to work closely
research computing team, led by Lucien Boland, has a with CoEPP as a Partner Investigator.
core team of Sean Crosby and the recent hire Goncalo
Borges, with support form Adelaide’s eResearch SA and In closing, I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to the
part-time support from PhD student Tristan Bloomfield. entire CoEPP team for their dedication, insight and hard
work. CoEPP has built a critical mass within Australia to
In 2014, our Australian facility was the world’s most ensure the nation’s contribution to the field of high-energy
reliable ATLAS Tier-2 WLCG grid site (99.76 per cent physics has an enduring legacy. The spirit of collaboration
reliability). 2.5 million completed grid jobs (about 1.5 per is strong and the Centre thrives because of this.
cent of ATLAS total). 842 TB data were transferred to
Australia. Amazing statistics.
Our outreach activities continue to expand and grow
particularly in the vital area of engagement with high-
school students. The International Masterclass is our
flagship program for this group. In 2014, CoEPP trialled
a “virtual” masterclass, in conjunction with the NSW
Department of Education and Communities, for students
located in rural and remote areas of NSW. In addition,
the Melbourne node trialled a work experience week for
year-10 students who were immersed into a week-long Professor
program of lectures and tutorials, and given research Geoff Taylor
projects. Other key activities engage the general public Centre Director, University of Melbourne
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2014 saw CoEPP reach the midpoint of its The Board considers the development of human
capital as a national benefit of CoEPP. This most
current term and, accordingly, the major
definitely includes gender equity, an area we will
administrative event for the year past was work at strengthening in the coming years.
the ARC CoE mid-term review.
Few scientific disciplines simply build vertically, e.g.
the placement of the Higgs boson in the “castle” of
Readers of our annual reports to date will be well aware the Standard Model. More often we make links at the
that CoEPP is meeting, and often surpassing, its key interfaces with other subdisciplines, such as theory,
performance indicators. So our panel was interested cosmology, accelerator engineering and its applications,
in more qualitative matters, such as the strategic value medical therapy and sensing. Often there are feedback
Professor of CoEPP. loops that lead to unanticipated gains. The Board
Jeremy mould
remains alert to these opportunities.
Chair
The Advisory Board sees the strategic goals of CoEPP
as positioning Australia for future developments in In closing, we at CoEPP are often asked about innovation
physics at the TeV scale. CoEPP brings Australian and application. At first glance, fundamental science
universities together to address European, and Asian, research does not seem to have direct application
hosted scientific opportunities in the next decade. The within industry. I argue that this is not the case at all.
LHC continues to be a principal focus and major new Fundamental science research is innovative by design.
international developments – such as the International Large experiments such as ATLAS demand significant
Linear Collider – beckon. leaps in technology and pave the way for advances in
engineering, data processing and computing. These key
technologies are vital to the future of this country.
RIGHT
Participants at the 2014
CoEPP Annual Scientific
Conference held in
Wollongong.
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ABOUT
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ADviSOry COmmiTTEE
The annual International Advisory Committee
(IAC) meeting was held at the University
of Freiburg on 28–29 August 2014.
Hosted by Partner Investigator Prof Karl Jakobs, the
meeting was held to discuss contributions from CoEPP
Partner Investigators and the International Advisory
Committee in advance of the Centre’s mid-term review.
Prof Taylor spoke on mid-term review preparations
and focused on Centre achievements and progress in
meeting the objectives set by the Australian Research
Council (ARC).
Significant points of discussion included:
The Centre has significantly expanded Australia’s
participation in particle physics research. Notably,
the establishment of the experimental group at The Centre’s outreach and high school programs RIGHT
Adelaide (led by Dr Paul Jackson) and the theory continue to grow. Key examples are the pilot Attendees at the 2014
group at Sydney (led by Dr Archil Kobakhidze), and programs with the NSW Department of School International Advisory
the addition of continuing academic positions at Education for the adoption of the masterclass Committee meeting in
Melbourne (Dr Phil Urquijo) and Monash (A/ Prof program in NSW High Schools and the centrally Freiburg.
Peter Skands), will provide an important legacy managed work experience program developed
of the Centre. in Melbourne, which will be available for all nodes Left to right:
in 2015. Dr Christian Weiser,
Expansion of the Centre’s research with joint Prof Karl Jakobs,
workshops between CoEPP and CAASTRO as IAC members Prof Rolf Heuer and Prof Peter Jenni Dr Karsten Koeneke,
examples of the interdisciplinary extensions. provided their endorsement of Centre research activities Prof Chiara Meroni,
and organisation. They noted that the Centre was Prof Rolf Heuer,
T he early discovery of the Higgs boson at the sound and vibrant with strong participation by motivated Dr Antonio Limosani,
LHC was due to the excellent performance of the students and young researchers, and commended A/Prof Kevin Varvell,
accelerator and its experiments. The exceptional the Centre on its ongoing participation within the Mr David Varvel,
speed with which the analysis was carried out was a ATLAS experiment at CERN. They encouraged the Prof Tony Williams,
tribute to the highly successful distributed analysis via interactions between the CoEPP and CAASTRO Prof Peter Jenni,
the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) in which groups reflecting the important developments in Dr Ulrich Parzefall,
the Centre has played an important role. Large- scale astroparticle physics and cosmology at the forefront Prof Geoffrey Taylor,
collaboration and cooperation amongst partners on of fundamental physics. Dr Teng Jian Khoo.
the CERN program is held as the premier example
of international science worldwide.
“ Large-scale collaboration and cooperation
Prof Andy Parker noted the survey by British Institute
amongst partners on the CERN program is
of Physics on the ability of advances in particle
physics and astrophysics to attract students to study held as the premier example of international
physics. Information from this survey will be used to
science worldwide. ”
assist our communications with prospective students.
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The operation of the Centre is managed
remainder are held by teleconference to ensure as wide
through a set of committees and participation as possible in consideration of the varied
travel schedules of the members of the Executive team.
management teams. The organisational
A Centre Manager supports the Director and the
structure is designed to support a focused, Executive team and oversees administrative, IT,
outreach, and communications support for the Centre.
coordinated program; and to sustain the
The Centre Manager also works with Node Directors
ability to deliver the sought after change to assure the proper flow of accounting information
between the Centre and the Nodes. Financial statements
over an extended period.
are generated quarterly and financial reports are
presented annually to the Board, with interim statements
at the half-yearly meetings.
OPERATION ANd mANAGEmENT
Two other key roles within the Centre comprise
The Centre management structure comprises of Outreach and Research Computing. Outreach activities
the Director, Professor Geoffrey Taylor, and the two include School visits by Centre researchers and
Associate Directors, Professor Tony Gherghetta and students, specific programs such as the International
Professor Anthony Thomas. Professor Gherghetta Masterclass and work experience weeks for high
resigned his role in August due to his relocation to school students, and the Centre’s “Collision” program
the United States and a role with the University of highlighting the fusion of art and science. The Centre
Minnesota. The Centre is also managed by the Node Research Computing facility enables the Centre to
Directors who manage local issues at each of the four maintain its pledge to the Worldwide LHC Computing
Nodes of the Centre. The Centre Executive Committee Grid (WLCG) through the provision of Tier 2 compute
BELOW comprises the above members who meet monthly facilities to the ATLAS experiment and also to provide
Organisational structure throughout the year. Four face-to-face meetings are local analysis support for the Centre’s experimental
of CoEPP. held during the year, one each at of the Nodes while the researchers and students.
INTERNATIONAL dIRECTOR
AdvISORy AdvISORy BOARd
Professor Geoffrey Taylor
COmmITTEE
ASSOCIATE dIRECTOR ASSOCIATE dIRECTOR CENTRE mANAGER
Professor Anthony Thomas Professor Tony Gherghetta David Varvel
(2011–2014)
RESEARCH COmPUTING COmmUNICATIONS ANd
mANAGER OUTREACH COORdINATOR
Lucien Boland Caroline Hamilton
mELBOURNE NOdE AdELAIdE NOdE mONASH NOdE dIRECTOR SydNEy NOdE dIRECTOR
dIRECTOR dIRECTOR Associate Professor Associate Professor
Professor Raymond Volkas Professor Anthony Thomas Csaba Balazs Kevin Varvell