Special Topics in Experimental Physics (graduate seminar) 

Subtitle : Examining experimental publications in high energy physics  

Description : We will go over experimental publications from the past two decades in high energy proton-proton and heavy ion collisions with a focus on key probes such as jets, heavy flavor particles and discuss more recent techniques involving machine learning. Each week will focus on a single paper and the discussion will cover the experimental technicalities, physics take-aways and also learn about the writing style in scientific publications. The course will end with a final presentation on a specific topic of interest. It is useful to have taken PHYS 8142 and 8144 but not a requirement. 

The format of the class is such that we will go through a published article (which can be accessed via the link mentioned below) each week. Since this class meets multiple times per week, we will focus on one aspect of the paper in each class such as main physics takeaways, the language, figures and discuss amongst ourselves about what one can learn from each paper (both +s and -s). 

Week 1 - August 22-26 (classes starting on the 24th)  https://inspirehep.net/literature/1316501  Discovery of the gluon - overview 

Week 2 - August 29th - Sept 2nd  https://inspirehep.net/literature/142123 Experimental evidence for the Gluon

Week 3 - Sept 5th - 9th https://inspirehep.net/literature/100719 Experimental look at jet substructure 

Week 4 - Sept 12th - 16th https://inspirehep.net/literature/2001955 A more modern look at 2-particle correlation from e+e- 

Week 5 - Sept 19th - 23rd https://inspirehep.net/literature/393099 Observation of the top quark at colliders 

Week 6 - Sept 26th - 30th https://inspirehep.net/literature/1849683 SeaQuest Nature paper on anti-quark asymmetry in proton

Week 7 - October 3rd - 7th https://inspirehep.net/literature/1206610 Long range correlations and ridge in small systems from ALICE 

Week 8 - October 10th - 14th  (13,14th - fall break) https://inspirehep.net/literature/731670 J/Psi from PHENIX in AuAu collisions 

Week 9 - October 17th - 21st https://inspirehep.net/literature/1203133 Identification of b-jets from CMS 

Week 10 - October 24th - 28th https://inspirehep.net/literature/1783875 Groomed jet substructure from STAR 

Week 11 - October 31st - Nov 4th https://inspirehep.net/literature/1790256 Fully unfolded lund plane in pp collisions from ATLAS 

Week 12 - Nov 7th - 11th https://www.nature.com/articles/nature23004 STAR first measurement of vorticity in heavy ion collisions  

Week 13 - Nov 14th - 18th https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-018-0360-0 PHENIX QGP droplet in small systems  

Week 14 - Nov 21st - 25th - Thanksgiving break 

Week 15 - Nov 28th - Dec 2nd https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.052302 Breit-Wheeler process in heavy ion collisions 

Week 16 - Dec 5th - 8th https://inspirehep.net/literature/1124337  ATLAS Higgs paper (also include the CMS higgs paper)

Finals week - Presentations and discussions 

This class respects and welcomes students of all backgrounds, identities, and abilities. If there are circumstances that make our learning environment and activities difficult, if you have medical information that you need to share with me, or if you need specific arrangements in case the building needs to be evacuated, please let me know. I am committed to creating an effective learning environment for all students, but I can only do so if you discuss your needs with me as early as possible. I promise to maintain the confidentiality of these discussions. If appropriate, also contact Student Access Services to get more information about specific accommodations.

Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to me as the instructor with the student’s legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records.