Current Student Projects
Past student theses can be found at the end of this page.
Tom Atkinson (Melbourne)
Melbourne University is contracted to supply a number of silicon (SCT)
detectors to the ATLAS experiment which is to be located on the Large
Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, Geneva. My work for the foreseeable
future is to develop the assembly process of these detectors so that
they meet geometric specifications down to the micron level. It is
expected that all research and development be completed by April and
then we will produce over 100 modules with a delivery date of the
final shipment to be December this year. Each module represents a
considerable financial investment and so consistency and repeatability
in the assembly process are both essential and at this stage we are in
the process of fine-tuning the associated parameters.
Gaby Bright (Melbourne)
There are two components to my research work; hardware and software.
I'm involved in the development of the assembly system for silicon
semiconductor detectors for the ATLAS experiment. The assembly system
uses a novel approach to the precision alignment of silicon wafers.
The alignment, with an accuracy of less than 5 microns, is achieved
with purpose built mechanical stage and image recognition software.
I am simulating the conditions of the ATLAS experiment. The simulation
allows for estimates of the experiment's ability to detect particular
decay's or particles. While the main motivation for the ATLAS project
is the detection of the Higgs' particle, my work will focus on the
simulation of the lepton family number violation in tau decays.
(Decays such as τ->μγ and τ->eγ.) These
decays are extremely rare and would indicate that the Standard Model
does not satisfactorily explain our current understanding of
fundamental particles and their properties.
Shoshanna Cole (Sydney)
I am examining the rare semi-leptonic decay of B mesons into neutral
pions, such as when a negatively charged B meson decays into a neutral
pion, an electron and a neutrino. This decay is important in
constraining Vub, an element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (quark
mixing) matrix. My Ph.D. research is a continuation of my Honours
Project (a feasibility study of detecting this decay) in which I
determined a preliminary branching fraction of (0.81 ( 0.31
(statistical)) x 10-4, in agreement with ISGW2 theory.
Joanne Culpepper (Melbourne)
I'm involved in the development in a new detector module for Positron
Emission Tomography (PET). The intention of the new detector module
design is to improve the resolution of PET images, especially when
imaging small volumes. Of critical importance is the spatial
resolution, which is determined by the detector module size.
Consequently, a novel detector module design that comprises an 8X8
silicon pixel detector, with total dimensions 28.07X29.90X3mm3,
coupled to a pixellated scintillator crystal and read-out by a VIKING
multi-channel read-out chip is under development.
Jeremy Dalseno (Melbourne)
The goal of Belle is to measure CP violation in neutral B meson
systems. CP violation is essential to explaining the observed
dominance of matter over anti-matter in this universe. One of the
parameters required to measure CP violation is known as phi1. To date,
sin2phi1 has been measured well. However, there is an ambiguity that
arises as phi1 may take on two values to give the same sin2phi1. My
research is help resolve this issue by measuring the decay mode B ->
D*D*Ks, which is sensitive to cos2phi1.
Rohan Dowd (Melbourne)
My thesis involves the investigation of B meson decays to charmless
vector mesons at the Belle experiment. The research concentrates on
investigating the decay of the neutral B meson into either 2 neutral
rho mesons, or a neutral K* and neutral (meson. These decays are rare
and have not yet been observed in a high energy physics experiment.
These types of decays are quite sensitive to 2nd order quantum field
effects, and may also exhibit large CP violation, making them of
interest to theorists and experimentalist alike.
Jasna Dragic (Melbourne)
One of the central questions in particle physics is whether the
Standard Model is sufficient in explaining the pattern of
Charge-Parity (CP) violation observed in nature. My analysis
investigates CP violation effects of the charmless neutral B mesons
decaying to three pions, dominated by the ( ( intermediate state. It
probes both Direct CP Violation through measuring asymmetry in B
anti-B decays, as well as Indirect CP violation arising from the
interference between B anti-B mixing and decay amplitudes. With
sufficient data collected by the Belle experiment, a measurement of
the Unitary Triangle angle (2 will also be possible, another important
milestone for the stringent testing of the Standard Model.
Craig Everton (Melbourne)
My research is with the Belle Experiment collaboration at the Japanese
High Energy Accelerator Research Organisation (KEK). This experiment
is designed to produce world-record numbers of B mesons for studies of
charge-parity violation (CPV), rare decays, and physics beyond the
Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. My particular work is the
analysis of the rare decays of charged B mesons to final states of Ds
and phi mesons. This decay is of interest as a high decay probability
could be an indication of physics beyond the standard model, such as
Higgs-doublet contributions or R-parity violating supersymmetry.
Ascelin Gordon (Melbourne)
My research examines the B meson decays to the (( final state using 32
million B meson events collected by the Belle detector at KEK. Results
are presented for the rare B decay to a neutral ( and charged pion.
This decay is of interest as it my exhibit large CP violation.
Combined with other modes, it will provide measurements of the
parameters of the CKM matrix, which describes the weak interaction of
quarks in the standard model. The branching fraction presented is one
of the world's best measurements of this mode and has been published
in Physics Letters B.
Sandor Kazi (Melbourne)
The Standard Model is based upon the group SU(3) x SU(2) x U(1) which
acts on weak left-handed particles only. It seems as if nature favours
left-handedness over righthanded-ness. In order to address this
imbalance, the Mirror Matter Model has been developed. This model
proposes that there exists a set of 'mirror' particles which have the
same properties as the standard model except that these particles
undergo weak right-handed interactions. One consequence of this model
is that the SM Higgs boson and the mirror Higgs boson are allowed to
mix. This mixing may be able to be detected by the ATLAS experiment at
CERN and so I'm looking at what interaction event may indicate the
existence of mirror matter.
Antonio Limosani (Melbourne)
Beauty quarks are copiously produced in the core of the Belle
detector. These are short lived and transform to quarks of lighter
mass and greater stability. Work in the CKM group centers around the
rarest of these transitions, the decay of the beauty to the up type
quark. A significant parameter related to these transitions is called
Vub. My study aims to make a world's best measurement of this
parameter.
Nicholas Parslow (Sydney)
The best way we have of describing high energy particle interactions
is via what is know as the Standard Model of Particle Physics. For
many theoretical reasons the Standard Model is thought to be an
insufficient description of reality, thus far however the only
(indirectly) experimentally observed weakness of the Standard Model
lies in its inability to explain the cosmological matter/antimatter
asymmetry. The Standard Model does nevertheless predict a small
asymmetry via a mechanism known as CP violation. This may be
quantified through 4 free parameters in a matrix known as the CKM
matrix. The Belle experiment has been specifically established to
measure these parameters by looking at the decays and decay rates of B
mesons and anti-B mesons. My own project is to experimentally measure
the matrix parameter Vub via observation of the rare decay of B (or
anti-B) meson to a ( meson, a lepton and a neutrino. Notably, there
also exist independent ways to measure Vub, meaning that my own
observations will aid in its over-constraint which (it is hoped) may
give a much needed clue as to the origin of the Standard Model's
flaws.
Past Student Theses
Rachel Challis (NOMAD)
Bose-Einstein Correlations at NOMAD - December 2002 pdf ps
Nick Kent (NOMAD)
Investigation of the Interaction νμN → K0sμ+&mu-X - June 2001 pdf
Eric Heenan (Belle)
An Investigation of Doubly
Charmed B Meson Decays with the Belle Detector - September 2002 pdf
.ps.gz
Nikki Hyett (NOMAD)
Coherent Diffractive rho production by Neutrinos in NOMAD - August 1998 .ps.gz
Caroline Poulsen(NOMAD)
Investigation of Inclusive and Exclusive Charmed Meson Decays in the NOMAD Detector - August 1998 .ps.gz
Lyle Winton (NOMAD)
Coherent Diffractive pion production by Neutrinos in NOMAD - October 1999 .ps.gz
