Precision Measurement of the W Boson Mass at the LHC

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Matthias Schott
• Subject Area: Nuclear and Elementary Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, Fields
• Term: from 2012 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 220064825

The Standard Model has been the most successful theory in the history of particle physics, describing the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions. Despite its huge success in the past decades, several crucial questions remain open. We still intensely seek to understand how fundamental particles acquire their mass, or in other words, what is the role of the Higgs mechanism in the electroweak symmetry breaking. The precision measurements of the mass of three fundamental particles, namely the W boson, the top quark and, if discovered, the Higgs boson, will give a definite answer. The goal of this research group is to conduct the precision measurement of the mass of the W boson with a target precision of 0.01%, implementing several innovative approaches on data-analyses and large-scale computing. These innovations improve the precision of the measurements by several factors compared to the current world average and will have long-term impact on the future of all particle physics research in the coming decades. The Standard Model will be challenged to unprecedented accuracy, allowing to register even small deviations from the expectation and to investigate possible new physics models. The measurement itself is one of the most challenging endeavors in current particle physics, as it requires a perfect understanding of a wide range of many experimental and theoretical aspects. The measurement will be based on data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in CERN.

• DFG Programme: Independent Junior Research Groups
• Major Instrumentation: Micromegas chambers with readout electronics