Project Title: Yale High Energy Physics Research

S. Demers (PI), O.K. Baker, C. Baltay, W. Goldberger, K. Heeger, I. Moult,

P. Natarajan, L. Newburgh, N. Padmanabhan, D. Poland, W. Skiba, P. Tipton,

Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520

ABSTRACT

The high energy physics research funded in this proposal is carried out by twelve investigators and their teams. We span the energy, intensity, and cosmic frontiers of elementary particle physics and have a theoretical physics group. Together we also investigate all five of the science drivers identified in the most recent particle physics prioritization process.

Yale investigators Baker, Demers, and Tipton, on the Energy Frontier, carry out their research with the ATLAS Experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. We are making measurements of Higgs boson properties and using the Higgs as a probe for new physics. Our proposed work tests the standard model and uses the ATLAS detector to test Bell’s inequality at LHC-energies. We are preparing for the High-Luminosity LHC with both detector construction and software development. 

Yale investigators Demers and Heeger, on the Intensity Frontier, are completing the precision study of reactor antineutrinos with PROSPECT and Daya Bay and preparing for the study of neutrino properties with the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). They also use the Mu2e Experiment at FNAL to probe for signs of charged lepton flavor violation, preparing the trigger and data acquisition system for the upcoming run and putting the commissioning plan in place.

Yale investigators on the Cosmic Frontier – Baltay, Newburgh, and Padmanabhan - span both probes of cosmic expansion in the Department of Energy Cosmic Visions portfolio: measurements of early expansion (inflation) through the CMB and measurements of dark energy through spectroscopic galaxy surveys. We have leading efforts on DESI, MegaMapper, and CMB-S4.

Yale investigators Goldberger, Moult, Natarajan, Poland, and Skiba, in Theoretical Particle Physics, have a broad set of common interests including strongly-coupled quantum field theory, conformal field theory, and physics beyond the standard model. In Theoretical Astrophysics, we use galaxy clusters as gravitational lenses to probe the nature of the fundamental forces and particles that constitute the building blocks of the universe with a focus on the elucidation of dark matter.

Our efforts across these areas are connected by the similar underlying questions we ask, and we have many collaborations - both formal and informal - across the boundaries of frontier and technique. We benefit from strong infrastructure, with a newly refurbished Wright Laboratory and computing resources maintained centrally at Yale. In addition to our progress with scientific questions, our work pushes forward machine learning techniques and technologies for advanced instrumentation.