Searches For New Physics Using Dijet Angular Distributions In Proton Proton Collisions At S

Searches for New Physics Using Dijet Angular Distributions in Proton-proton Collisions at √s

Dijet Angular Distributions in Proton-Proton Collisions

This thesis is based on the first data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Its theme can be described as the classical Rutherford scattering experiment adapted to the LHC: measurement of scattering angles to search for new physics and substructure. At the LHC, colliding quarks and gluons exit the proton collisions as collimated particle showers, or jets. The thesis presents studies of the scattering angles of these jets. It includes a phenomenological study at the LHC design energy of 14 TeV, where a model of so-called large extra dimensions is used as a benchmark process for the sensitivity to new physics. The experimental result is the first measurement, made in 2010, by ATLAS, operating at the LHC start-up energy of 7 TeV. The result is compatible with the Standard Model and demonstrates how well the physics and the apparatus are understood. The first data is a tiny fraction of what will be accumulated in the coming years, and this study has set the stage for performing these measurements with confidence as the LHC accumulates luminosity and increases its energy, thereby probing smaller length scales.

Search for New Phenomena in Dijet Angular Distributions at √s = 8 and 13 TeV

This thesis describes the use of the angular distributions of the most energetic dijets in data recorded by the ATLAS experiment, at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the goal of which is to search for phenomena beyond what the current theory of Particle Physics (the Standard Model) can describe. It also describes the deployment of the method used in ATLAS to correct for the distortions in jet energy measurements caused by additional proton–proton interactions. The thesis provides a detailed introduction to understanding jets and dijet searches at the LHC. The experiments were carried out at two record collider centre-of-mass energies (8 and 13 TeV), probing smaller distances than ever before. Across a broad momentum transfer range, the proton constituents (quarks and gluons) display the same kinematical behaviour, and thus still appear to be point-like. Data are compared to predictions corrected for next-to-leading order quantum chromodynamics (NLO QCD) as well as electroweak effects, demonstrating excellent agreement. The results are subsequently used to set limits on parameters of suggested theoretical extensions to the Standard Model (SM), including the effective coupling and mass of a Dark Matter mediator.