Alice Xu
Research Mentor: Christine Aidala
Mentor Department: Physics, LSA
Author(s): Alice Xu,Ezra Lesser, Christine Aidala
Session: Session 2 (10:00 AM – 10:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Poster 105
Abstract
Computer simulations are a key component of particle physics research; they indicate how new phenomena would show up in detectors and aid in the development of future theory models. For high energy proton-proton collisions in detectors like the Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment at the CERN particle physics laboratory, the accuracy of simulations is crucial. To ensure that the simulation results match the actual outcome of an experiment, the RIVET (Robust Independent Validation of Experiment and Theory) toolkit is used to compare the two, such that the models implemented in the simulation can be improved. Data was analyzed from the LHCb paper studying the distributions of charged particles produced in proton-proton collisions that contain a special particle called the Z-boson. After organizing and converting the data to a machine-readable format, I replicated the experimental conditions using Pythia, a particular particle collision simulation package. Histograms from both datasets are inserted into RIVET and compared. Pythia is important in particle physics, particularly a branch called quantum chromodynamics (QCD), since it can simulate collisions and predict the types and distributions of final state particles that are formed at the end of the interaction. One goal in QCD research is to understand how the constituents of protons, called quarks, form new bound states when protons are broken up in collisions. Having accurate models of how such bound states are formed can help in understanding dynamic processes in QCD, serving as an interface between experiment and theory.
