High Energy Physics (HEP) :

The High Energy Physics (HEP) group at Fresno State studies the properties of the most fundamental constituents of matter at accelerator based experiments. We are members of the ATLAS (http://atlas.ch) experiment of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) (http://public.web.cern.ch/public/) in Geneva, Switzerland and the D0 (http://www-d0.fnal.gov/) experiment of the Tevatron collider at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (http://www.fnal.gov/) in Batavia, Illinois. Tevatron, which collides proton and antiprotons at 2 TeV, has been the energy frontier in the world for many years. LHC, which will start in 2008 and collide proton and proton at 14 TeV, will be the world's new energy frontier until at least 2020. With its unprecedented colliding energy and luminosity, the goal of LHC is to search for new physics beyond the current known physics frame work. Scientist's expectations for discoveries at the LHC include the Higgs particle (nicknamed the ``God particle" by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman) which is responsible for the origin of mass, supersymmetry (SUSY), dark matter, extra dimensions, and many other new physics scenarios. The ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC Apparatus) experiment of the LHC is designed to search for such possible new physics. The Fresno State ATLAS group has been working on new analysis method to search for new physics at LHC, ATLAS performance studies, and preparation to search for new physics with first incoming ATLAS data. More details can be found in the web pages of Professor Yongsheng Gao and Professor Ray Hall.

ATLAS Research Work by Faculty & Staff:

Significance Calculation and a New Analysis Method in Searching for New Physics at the LHC. Published in Eur. Phys. J. C45, 659 (2006)

Particle Identification fake rates study using reflections of Z decays. (Y. Gao's talks at the ATLAS electron/photon, Standard Model, Higgs, Exotics, Tau, Jet & Et Miss physics Working Groups since 2006)

Electron identification and electron/pion separation using LAr testbeam data: ATLAS note ATL-LARG-2003-013. Published in Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A550,96 (2005)

Visit CERN's Fresno State Webpage

Dr. Frank Wilczek is the author of "The Lightness of Being: Mass, Ether and the Unification of Forces" and was interviewed about the LHC on TechNation September 30, 2008. While Dr. Wilczek is not from Fresno State, this is a great way to learn some of the basics of the LHC. [podcast mp3 file ]

High Energy Physics (HEP) :

ATLAS Research Work by Faculty & Staff:

Recent News and Stories about Fresno State's ATLAS Program:

Stories on FresnoStateNews.com:

ATLAS Research / Projects by Fresno State Students: