Brief Description of Project:
This proposal represents the renewal request for the DOE university program funding that supports our core particle physics mission. Research in particle physics at UCSC is done in the setting of an Organized Research Unit (ORU), the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (SCIPP). SCIPP is home to vibrant and evolving research in experimental and theoretical particle physics. An especially exciting aspect of work in SCIPP is the productive interaction among the different research groups, including the close connections between theoretical and experimental work, and with separately funded synergistic activities in astronomy, astrophysics, neuroscience, and novel applications of HEP techniques.
Our proposal is well aligned with the most recent Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) report, directly addressing four of the five Science Drivers in that report:
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Use the Higgs boson as a new tool for discovery
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Identify the new physics of dark matter
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Understand cosmic acceleration: dark energy and inflation
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Explore the unknown: new particles, interactions, and physical principles.
Through our experimental and theoretical investigations, listed below, we advance humanity’s understanding of the building blocks of Nature, and their fundamental interactions, along the lines of inquiry given by the Science Drivers for the field. We also share the outcomes, and the excitement of pursuing these topics, in various public outreach programs and with our students. SCIPP research fits very well into the following HEP research subprograms, as summarized below for each subsection of FOA-0002832:
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(a) Energy Frontier Experiment: ATLAS (LHC)
(c) Cosmic Frontier Experiment: Rubin/LSST, DES, and DESI
(d) Theory The primary thrusts are flavor physics, collider phenomenology, model-building beyond the standard model, particle dark matter, and topics in string theory, cosmology, and QCD.
(f) Detector R&D The primary thrusts are ultra-fast silicon detectors and associated electronics.
