ATLAS
Programme Leaders
Wouter Verkerke, Nicolo de Groot
Main points: scientific
- Observation of Higgs boson production in association with a top quark pairs
- Observation of Higgs boson decay to pairs of b-quarks
- News article in Nature on the general search strategy interviewing Sascha Caron
- A new strategy has been developed to study polarized single top quark production (jointly with the Nikhef theory group)
- New stringent limits set on lepton flavor violation in Z boson decays
Main points: technical
- A record luminosity of 158 fb–1 has been delivered to the ATLAS detector at the end of LHC run-2
- The silicon-strip end-cap detector that will be assembled at Nikhef in the coming years has passed the final design review
- The hardware for the ATLAS phase-1 deployment of the FELIX Trigger and DAQ system is entering the production phase
- Tristan du Pree takes over muon project leadership from Gerjan Bobbink
Awards, fellowships etc.
- ATLAS Outstanding achievement award – Olga Igonkina
- NWO Veni grant – Nikolina Ilic
- CERN fellowship – Sara Alderweireldt
Key positions in collaborations
- Coordinators B-physics, Muon trigger: Olya Igonkina, Marcus Morgenstern, resp.
- FELIX firmware coordinator: Frans Schreuder
- FELIX software coordinator: Mark Dönszelmann
- FELIX user support coordinator: Nikolina Ilic
- ITk global endcap structures activity coordinator: Marcel Vreeswijk
- Deputy publications committee chair elect: Pamela Ferrari
- Statistics committee: Wouter Verkerke
Main papers in 2018
- Observation of Higgs boson production in association with a top quark pair at the LHC with the ATLAS detector, Phys. Lett. B 784 (2018) 173
- Observation of H→bb̅ decays and VH production with the ATLAS detector, Phys. Lett. B 786 (2018) 59
- A search for lepton-flavor-violating decays of the Z boson into a tau-lepton and a light lepton with the ATLAS detector, Phys. Rev. D 98 (2018) 092010
- Effective operators in t-channel single top production and decay, Eur.Phys.J. C78 (2018) no.11, 919
LHCb
Programme Leader
Marcel Merk
Main points: scientific
- Decay-time dependent CP violation studies: the study of the mixing phase φs of B0 oscillations using Bs→ J/ψ φ decays and the decay phase γ using Bs>DsK decays.
- Precise measurement of very rare decays of B0s→μ+μ– including the effective lifetime of this decay. Subsequently, the first observation of B0→μμ and the relative branching ratio of B0 over Bs for these decays. Furthermore, the search for the even stronger suppressed decays B0(s)→ e+e– and of the Lepton Flavor violating decays B0(s)→ e μ.
- Lepton universality tests in semileptonic b-quark to s-quark decays probing physics beyond the standard model,
- Searches for long-lived massive particles through signals of displaced as well as emerging jets
Main points: technical
- Completion of the mass production and quality assurance of Velo upgrade detector modules and the manufacturing of two sets of vacuum encapsulation boxes for the detector.
- Deinstallation of the VELO- 1vertex detector, the cooling and preparation for the installation of the upgraded detector.
- Completion of the production of ColdBox-es for the Scintillating Fibar detector.
- Installation and testing of SciFi modules in the C-frames at CERN.
- Development and commissioning of the real time reconstruction framework and implementation of reconstruction algorithms.
Awards, fellowships etc.
- Vici: Niels Tuning and Wouter Hulsbergen,
- Marie Curie Fellowship: Sean Benson,
- LHCb Early career scientist prize: Elena Dall’Occo.
Key positions in collaborations
- Run coordinator: Niels Tuning,
- Editorial Board Chair: Patrick Koppenburg,
- Outer Tracker project leader: Niels Tuning,
- SciFi deputy project leader: Antonio Pellegrino,
- Real Time Analysis Institute Board chair: Marcel Merk.
- Working group convenor of B to CC decays: Sevda Esen,
- Working group convenor of rare decays: Flavio Archilli,
- Stripping coordinator: Carlos Vazquez Sierra.
Main papers in 2018
- LHCb, Physics case for an LHCb Upgrade II – Opportunities in flavour physics, and beyond, in the HL-LHC era, arXiv:1808.08865.
- LHCb, Measurement of the CKM angle γ using B±→ DK± with D→ KS0π+π–, KS0 K+K– decays, DOI 10.1007/JHEP08(2018)176.
- LHCb, Observation of a new Ξb– resonance, DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.072002.
- Bel, S.Esen, N. Tuning, M. Merk et al., Measurement of CP asymmetry in Bs0→ Ds*∓ K± decays, DOI 10.1007/JHEP03(2018)059.
ALICE
Programme Leader
Raimond Snellings
Main points: scientific
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Measurements of transport properties QGP
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Constraints on magnitude chiral magnetic effect
Main points: technical
- First staves completed of upgrade ITS and on track for finishing in 2019
Key positions in collaborations
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Physics coordinator : Marco van Leeuwen
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Project leader ITS: Paul Kuijer)
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Physics Working Group Convenors: A. Grelli
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Physics Analysis Group Coordinators: B. Trzeciak, D. Caffari,
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Junior Representative: M. Sas
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Conference Committee: P. Christakoglou
Awards, fellowships etc.
- J. Margutti Cum Laude Thesis
- B. Trzeciak: price best talk Quark Matter 2018
- M. Sas: price best poster Quark Matter 2018
Main paper in 2018
- Energy dependence and fluctuations of anisotropic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN =5.02 and 2.76 TeV, ALICE collaboration, J. High Energ. Phys. (2018) 2018: 103. https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2018)103
- Measurement of D0, D+, D*+ and D+s production in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN =5.02 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 10 (2018) 174 , https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10%282018%29174
- Neutral pion and η meson production in p-Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 78 (2018) 624 , https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-018-6013-8
eEDM
Programme Leader
Steven Hoekstra
Main points: scientific
- Studied and determined key properties of the BaF electronic structure (energies, lifetimes, branching ratios) with implications for molecular laser cooling
- Calculated the hyperfine constants and the effective electric field in BaF
- Optimized the properties of a cryogenic beam of SrF molecules
- Obtained a complete set of SrF deceleration data and analyzed them by a careful comparison to numerical trajectory simulations, characterizing the stability in the deceleration process
Main points: technical
- A prototype transformer for the high-voltage upgrade of the molecule decelerator is being tested
- A cryogenic buffer gas source for slow molecular beam has been constructed and is operational
- The interaction zone of the electron-EDM experiment has been designed, and first prototypes are being constructed
- An intense supersonic source of BaF molecules has become operational, and first measurements on molecular properties are underway.
Main paper in 2018
- Measuring the electric dipole moment of the electron in BaF – The NL-eEDM collaboration, Aggarwal, P., Bethlem, H.L. et al. Eur. Phys. J. D (2018) 72: 197. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2018-90192-9