ENHANCING PHYSICS SELECTIVITY FOR EXOTIC HIGGS SEARCHES WITH NOVEL TRIGGER AND RECONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES IN THE CMS EXPERIMENT (GKEXOHIGTOAA)

Ref.No: 61400200
Start date: 02.10.2023
End date: 01.10.2025
Approval date: 29.09.2023
Department: APPLIED MATHEMATICAL & PHYSICAL SCIENCES
Sector: PHYSICS
Financier: ΕΛΛΑΔΑ 2.0 ΕΘΝΙΚΟ ΣΧΕΔΙΟ ΑΝΑΚΑΜΨΗΣ &ΑΝΘΕΚΤΙΚΟΤΗΤΑΣ, ELLHNIKO IDRYMA EREYNAS KAI KAINOTOMIAS
Budget: 186.950,00 €
Public key: 94ΖΟ46ΨΖΣ4-ΓΟΙ
Scientific Responsible: Assist. Prof. GEORGIA KARAPOSTOLI
Email: georgia.karapostoli@gmail.com
Description: AN IMPORTANT MISSION OF THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER (LHC) PHYSICS PROGRAM IS THE INVESTIGATION OF THE NATURE OF THE DISCOVERED HIGGS BOSON (H) AND THE SEARCH FOR ASSOCIATED NEW PHYSICS BEYOND THE STANDARD MODEL (BSM). TO IDENTIFY THE NATURE OF THE H REQUIRES THE INVESTIGATION OF ITS NON-SM ("EXOTIC") DECAYS, I.E. DECAYS THAT INVOLVE NEW LIGHT STATES BEYOND THE SM. THE RESEARCH PROPOSES A SET OF FUTURE ANALYSES THAT WILL COVER RARE AND EXOTIC DECAYS OF THE H IN FINAL STATES WITH JETS, WITH THE AIM TO CONSTRAIN THE BRANCHING FRACTION OF THE H TO BSM PARTICLES AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE. THE RESEARCH PROGRAM WILL AIM TO MAXIMISE THE SENSITIVITY TO A SPECIFIC CLASS OF BSM HIGGS SIGNATURES USING DATA COLLECTED WITH THE CMS EXPERIMENT, EXPLORING TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES TO ENHANCE THE PHYSICS SELECTIVITY ALREADY AT THE FIRST LEVEL OF THE CMS DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM. THE RESEARCH PLAN WILL BE EXTENDED TO INCLUDE IN ADDITION SEARCHES FOR H DECAYING TO LONG-LIVED PARTICLES. EXOTIC DECAYS OF THE H ARE NON-TRIVIAL EXPERIMENTALLY BECAUSE THEY ARE CHARACTERISED BY LOW TRANSVERSE MOMENTUM FINAL STATES, WHICH MAKES THEM CHALLENGING TO TRIGGER AND RECONSTRUCT. MOREOVER, IF THE EXOTIC HIGGS DECAY PRODUCES ONLY JETS WITH OR WITHOUT MISSING TRANSVERSE ENERGY, IT MAY BE DIFFICULT TO TRIGGER ON HIGGS EVENTS PRODUCED IN THE DOMINANT GLUON-GLUON-FUSION CHANNEL. MORE SOPHISTICATED TRIGGERS ON COMBINATIONS OF OBJECTS, POSSIBLY WITH LOW THRESHOLDS, WILL BE REQUIRED. THE RESEARCH PROGRAM WILL DEVELOP NEW STRATEGIES TO TACKLE TRIGGERING ISSUES AND EXPLORE ADVANCED RECONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING MACHINE LEARNING BASED APPROACHES. THE PI HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE CMS HADRON CALORIMETER (HCAL) UPGRADES, PURSUING A PROGRAM OF WORK THAT SPECIFICALLY TARGETS THE CHALLENGES THE DIFFICULT FINAL STATES DESCRIBED ABOVE POSE, EXPLORING IN PARTICULAR THE NEW TRIGGERING CAPABILITIES OF THE HCAL SUB-DETECTOR. THE PROJECT WILL AIM TO TAKE THIS R&D TO ITS FRUITION USING THE LHC RUN 2 AND RUN 3 DATA.
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