This book is placed at the interface between string theory and elementary particle physics and shows novel results in the search for a heterotic string vacuum that reproduces those matter particles and interactions observed in our universe. The author provides a systematic classification of potentially realistic heterotic covariant lattice vacua, which possess a lower number of moduli fields when compared to conventional compactification methods, by means of number theoretical methods. These methods, while well known to the mathematics community, have not yet found many applications to physics. They are introduced to the degree necessary to understand the computations carried out throughout this work. Furthermore, explicit covariant lattice models with particularly interesting properties are analyzed in detail. Finally, new light is shed on the relation between covariant lattice models and asymmetric orbifold compactifications, the result being a concrete correspondence between certain types of asymmetric orbifolds and those classified covariant lattices.

To cope with the new running conditions in the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, a new integrated circuit named SAMPA has been created that can process 32 analogue channels, convert them to digital, perform filtering and compression, and transmit the data on high speed links to the data acquisition system. The main purpose of this work is to specify, design, test and verify the digital signal processing part of the SAMPA device to accommodate the requirements of the detectors involved. Innovative solutions have been employed to reduce the bandwidth required by the detectors, as well as adaptations to ease data handling later in the processing chain. The new SAMPA device was built to replace two existing circuits, in addition to reducing the current consumption, and doubling the amount of processing channels. About 50000 of the devices will be installed in the Time Projection Chamber and Muon Chamber detectors in the ALICE experiment.

This work presents some essential techniques that constitute the modern strategy for computing scattering amplitudes. It begins with an introductory chapter to fill the gap between a standard QFT course and the latest developments in the field. The author then tackles the main bottleneck: the computation of the loop Feynman integrals. The most efficient technique for their computation is the method of the differential equations. This is discussed in detail, with a particular focus on the mathematical aspects involved in the derivation of the differential equations and their solution. Ample space is devoted to the special functions arising from the differential equations, to their analytic properties, and to the mathematical techniques which allow us to handle them systematically. The thesis also addresses the application of these techniques to a cutting-edge problem of importance for the physics programme of the Large Hadron Collider: five-particle amplitudes at two-loop order. It presents the first analytic results for complete two-loop five-particle amplitudes, in supersymmetric theories and QCD. The techniques discussed here open the door to precision phenomenology for processes of phenomenological interest, such as three-photon, three-jet, and di-photon + jet production.

This book presents the Generalized Multipole Technique as a fast and powerful theoretical and computation tool to simulate light scattering by nonspherical particles. It also demonstrates the considerable potential of the method. In recent years, the concept has been applied in new fields, such as simulation of electron energy loss spectroscopy and has been used to extend other methods, like the null-field method, making it more widely applicable. The authors discuss particular implementations of the GMT methods, such as the Discrete Sources Method (DSM), Multiple Multipole Program (MMP), the Method of Auxiliary Sources (MAS), the Filamentary Current Method (FCM), the Method of Fictitious Sources (MFS) and the Null-Field Method with Discrete Sources (NFM-DS). The Generalized Multipole Technique is a surface-based method to find the solution of a boundary-value problem for a given differential equation by expanding the fields in terms of fundamental or other singular solutions of this equation. The amplitudes of these fundamental solutions are determined from the boundary condition at the particle surface. Electromagnetic and light scattering by particles or systems of particles has been the subject of intense research in various scientific and engineering fields, including astronomy, optics, meteorology, remote sensing, optical particle sizing and electromagnetics, which has led to the development of a large number of modelling methods based on the Generalized Multipole Technique for quantitative evaluation of electromagnetic scattering by particles of various shapes and compositions. The book describes these methods in detail.

After an extensive overview of the Standard Model and of the theory and phenomenology of Supersymmetry, this book describes the recent development of the ATLAS Particle Flow algorithm, a hadronic reconstruction technique aiming at enhancing the sensitivity of the experiment to new physics through the combination of the information from different ATLAS sub-detectors. The first ever ATLAS strong SUSY search exploiting this technique is also described, reporting the results and exclusion limits obtained using the complete proton-proton collision dataset recorded by the ATLAS experiment during the second Run of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

This thesis documents the measurement of lifetime, width, mass, and couplings to two electroweak bosons of the recently-discovered Higgs boson using data from the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Both on-shell (at the mass of around 125 GeV) and off-shell (above 200 GeV) Higgs boson production is studied and an excess of off-shell production with significance above two standard deviations is observed for the first time. The latter is a qualitative new way to study the Higgs field, responsible for generation of mass of all the known elementary particles. In addition, phenomenological tools have been developed with the Monte Carlo event generator and matrix element techniques for an optional analysis of LHC data. Optimization of the CMS data with careful alignment of the silicon tracker is also presented.

This book introduces the reader to the field of jet substructure, starting from the basic considerations for capturing decays of boosted particles in individual jets, to explaining state-of-the-art techniques. Jet substructure methods have become ubiquitous in data analyses at the LHC, with diverse applications stemming from the abundance of jets in proton-proton collisions, the presence of pileup and multiple interactions, and the need to reconstruct and identify decays of highly-Lorentz boosted particles. The last decade has seen a vast increase in our knowledge of all aspects of the field, with a proliferation of new jet substructure algorithms, calculations and measurements which are presented in this book. Recent developments and algorithms are described and put into the larger experimental context. Their usefulness and application are shown in many demonstrative examples and the phenomenological and experimental effects influencing their performance are discussed. A comprehensive overview is given of measurements and searches for new phenomena performed by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations. This book shows the impressive versatility of jet substructure methods at the LHC.

A pioneering treatise presenting how the new mathematical techniques of holographic duality unify seemingly unrelated fields of physics. This innovative development morphs quantum field theory, general relativity and the renormalisation group into a single computational framework and this book is the first to bring together a wide range of research in this rapidly developing field. Set within the context of condensed matter physics and using boxes highlighting the specific techniques required, it examines the holographic description of thermal properties of matter, Fermi liquids and superconductors, and hitherto unknown forms of macroscopically entangled quantum matter in terms of general relativity, stars and black holes. Showing that holographic duality can succeed where classic mathematical approaches fail, this text provides a thorough overview of this major breakthrough at the heart of modern physics. The inclusion of extensive introductory material using non-technical language and online Mathematica notebooks ensures the appeal to students and researchers alike.

Extreme ultraviolet radiation, also referred to as soft X-rays or XUV, offers very special optical properties. The X-UV refractive index of matter is such that normal reflection cannot take place on polished surfaces whereas beam transmission through one micrometer of almost all materials reduces to zero. Therefore, it has long been a difficult task to imagine and to implement devices designed for complex optics experiments in this wavelength range. Thanks to new sources of coherent radiation - XUV-lasers and High Order Harmonics - the use of XUV radiation, for interferometry, holography, diffractive optics, non-linear radiation-matter interaction, time-resolved study of fast and ultrafast phenomena and many other applications, including medical sciences, is ubiquitous.

This thesis summarizes the original analysis work performed by the author on data from XENON1T, a search for dark matter with a ton-size noble liquid detector operated at Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory in Italy. The nature of dark matter is one of the most open and pressing questions of modern physics, and the unique data acquired with this detector allows the exploration and investigation of several potential scenarios. The analysis of Dr. Shockley searches for a class of elusive elementary particles that interact with the electrons of ordinary atoms, instead of the nucleus. Results of the analysis present, with high confidence, an excess with respect to the expected background. Beyond more mundane explanations, this additional rate of electron-mediated interactions might be a first hint of physics beyond the standard model. This accessible thesis provides details on the detector, the data, and the theory, delivering to the reader an in-depth and coherent picture of the search for physics beyond the standard model.

This book presents more than 300 exercises, with guided solutions, on topics that span both the experimental and the theoretical aspects of particle physics. The exercises are organized by subject, covering kinematics, interactions of particles with matter, particle detectors, hadrons and resonances, electroweak interactions and flavor physics, statistics and data analysis, and accelerators and beam dynamics. Some 200 of the exercises, including 50 in multiple-choice format, derive from exams set by the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Research (INFN) over the past decade to select its scientific staff of experimental researchers. The remainder comprise problems taken from the undergraduate classes at ETH Zurich or inspired by classic textbooks. Whenever appropriate, in-depth information is provided on the source of the problem, and readers will also benefit from the inclusion of bibliographic details and short dissertations on particular topics. This book is an ideal complement to textbooks on experimental and theoretical particle physics and will enable students to evaluate their knowledge and preparedness for exams.

This book provides an overview of the recent experimental and theoretical results on interactions of heavy ions with gaseous, solid and plasma targets from the perspective of atomic physics. The topics discussed comprise stopping power, multiple-electron loss and capture processes, equilibrium and non-equilibrium charge-state fractions in penetration of fast ion beams through matter including relativistic domain. It also addresses mean charge-states and equilibrium target thickness in ion-beam penetrations, isotope effects in low-energy electron capture, lifetimes of heavy ion beams, semi-empirical formulae for effective cross sections. The book is intended for researchers and graduate students working in atomic, plasma and accelerator physics.

Discusses recent advances and new problems in the exploration of the Sun's interior structure, solar dynamics and dynamo, mechanisms of sunspot and active regions formation, sources of solar irradiance variations and links between the subsurface dynamics, flaring and CME activity.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) mission has provided a large amount of new data on solar dynamics and magnetic activities during the rising phase of the current and highly unusual solar cycle. These data are complemented by the continuing SOHO mission and by ground-based observatories that include the GONG helioseismology network and the New Solar Telescope. Also, the observations are supported by realistic numerical simulations on supercomputers. This unprecedented amount of data provides a unique opportunity for multi-instrument investigations that address fundamental problems of the origin of solar magnetic activity at various spatial and temporal scales. This book demonstrates that the synergy of high-resolution multi-wavelength observations and simulations is a key to uncovering the long-standing puzzles of solar magnetism and dynamics.

This volume is aimed at researchers and graduate students active in solar physics and space science.

Originally published in Solar Physics journal, Vol. 287/1-2, 2013.

The associated production of a W boson and a single charm quark (W+c) is the only process in proton-proton collisions that directly probes the strange quark content of the proton. In this thesis, W+charm production is measured in proton-proton collisions at the LHC at 13 TeV, as recorded by the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment. The analysis focuses on the identification of W bosons in their leptonic decay to a muon and a neutrino and charm quarks are tagged via the full reconstruction of D*-Mesons. The measured cross sections of W+c production are used, in combination with other relevant CMS results and the most precise HERA DIS data, in a QCD analysis to determine the strange quark content of the proton. The resulting strange quark distribution and suppression, with respect to the other light sea quarks, are in good agreement with those obtained in neutrino scattering experiments and extend their kinematic reach.

Semiconductor sensors patterned at the micron scale combined with custom-designed integrated circuits have revolutionized semiconductor radiation detector systems. Designs covering many square meters with million of signal channels are now commonplace in high-energy physics and the technology is finding its way into many other fields, ranging from astrophysics to experiments at synchrotron light sources and medical imaging. This book is the first to present a comprehensive discussion of the many facets of highly integrated semiconductor detectors systems, covering sensors, signal processing, transistors, and circuits, low-noise electronics, and radiation effects. The diversity of design approaches is illustrated in a chapter describing systems in high-energy physics, astronomy, and astrophysics. Finally, a chapter "Why Things Don't Work" discusses common pitfalls. Profusely illustrated, this book includes comprehensive discussions of sensors, signal processing, and electronics. Including fine tutorial material, it provides a unique reference in a key area of modern science.

The book reviews recent developments in the field of deep inelastic electron-proton reactions at high momentum transfers. These studies have been made feasible by the high-statistics ep collision data collected by the experiments ZEUS and H1 at the HERA accelerator at DESY. The standard model framework for describing deep inelastic scattering and scenarios beyond the standard model, as well as the experimental situation, is discussed, and the experimental results are collected and confronted with the theoretical predictions.

Adopting an elegant geometrical approach, this advanced pedagogical text describes deep and intuitive methods for understanding the subtle logic of supersymmetry while avoiding lengthy computations. The book describes how complex results and formulae obtained using other approaches can be significantly simplified when translated to a geometric setting. Introductory chapters describe geometric structures in field theory in the general case, while detailed later chapters address specific structures such as parallel tensor fields, G-structures, and isometry groups. The relationship between structures in supergravity and periodic maps of algebraic manifolds, Kodaira-Spencer theory, modularity, and the arithmetic properties of supergravity are also addressed. Relevant geometric concepts are introduced and described in detail, providing a self-contained toolkit of useful techniques, formulae and constructions. Covering all the material necessary for the application of supersymmetric field theories to fundamental physical questions, this is an outstanding resource for graduate students and researchers in theoretical physics.

The nature of dark matter remains one of the preeminent mysteries in physics and cosmology. It appears to require the existence of new particles whose interactions with ordinary matter are extraordinarily feeble. One well-motivated candidate is the axion, an extraordinarily light neutral particle that may possibly be detected by looking for their conversion to detectable microwaves in the presence of a strong magnetic field. This has led to a number of experimental searches that are beginning to probe plausible axion model space and may reveal the axion in the near future. These proceedings discuss the challenges of designing and operating tunable resonant cavities and detectors at ultralow temperatures. The topics discussed here have potential application far beyond the field of dark matter detection and may be applied to resonant cavities for accelerators as well as designing superconducting detectors for quantum information and computing applications. This work is intended for graduate students and researchers interested in learning the unique requirements for designing and operating microwave cavities and detectors for direct axion searches and to introduce several proposed experimental concepts that are still in the prototype stage.

This proceedings book presents dual approaches to examining new theoretical models and their applicability in the search for new scintillation materials and, ultimately, the development of industrial technologies. The ISMART conferences bring together the radiation detector community, from fundamental research scientists to applied physics experts, engineers, and experts on the implementation of advanced solutions. This scientific forum builds a bridge between the different parts of the community and is the basis for multidisciplinary, cooperative research and development efforts. The main goals of the conference series are to review the latest results in scintillator development, from theory to applications, and to arrive at a deeper understanding of fundamental processes, as well as to discover components for the production of new generations of scintillation materials. The book highlights recent findings and hypotheses, key advances, as well as exotic detector designs and solutions, and includes papers on the microtheory of scintillation and the initial phase of luminescence development, applications of the various materials, as well as the development and characterization of ionizing radiation detection equipment. It also touches on the increased demand for cryogenic scintillators, the renaissance of garnet materials for scintillator applications, nano-structuring in scintillator development, trends in and applications for security, and exploration of hydrocarbons and ecological monitoring.

The theory of the muon anomalous magnetic moment is particle physics in a nutshell. It is an interesting, exciting and difficult subject, and this book provides a comprehensive review of it. The theory of the muon anomalous magnetic moment is at the cutting edge of current research in particle physics, and any deviation between the theoretical prediction and the experimental value might be interpreted as a signal of an as-yet-unknown new physics.

The importance and the beauty of modern quantum field theory resides in the power and variety of its methods and ideas, which find application in domains as different as particle physics, cosmology, condensed matter, statistical mechanics and critical phenomena. This book introduces the reader to the modern developments in a manner which assumes no previous knowledge of quantum field theory. Along with standard topics like Feynman diagrams, the book discusses effective lagrangians, renormalization group equations, the path integral formulation, spontaneous symmetry breaking and non-abelian gauge theories. The inclusion of more advanced topics will also make this a most useful book for graduate students and researchers.

Winner of the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books

A Best Science Book of the Year for the Guardian, Financial Times, and New Scientist

It was the universe s most elusive particle, the linchpin for everything scientists dreamed up to explain how physics works. It had to be found. But projects as big as CERN s Large Hadron Collider don t happen without incredible risks and occasional skullduggery. In the definitive account of this landmark event, Caltech physicist and acclaimed science writer Sean Carroll reveals the insights, rivalry, and wonder that fuelled the Higgs discovery, and takes us on a riveting and irresistible ride to the very edge of physics today.

For most of the last century, condensed matter physics has been dominated by band theory and Landau's symmetry breaking theory. In the last twenty years, however, there has been the emergence of a new paradigm associated with fractionalisation, topological order, emergent gauge bosons and fermions, and string condensation. These new physical concepts are so fundamental that they may even influence our understanding of the origin of light and fermions in the universe. This book is a pedagogical and systematic introduction to the new concepts and quantum field theoretical methods (which have fuelled the rapid developments) in condensed matter physics. It discusses many basic notions in theoretical physics which underlie physical phenomena in nature. Topics covered are dissipative quantum systems, boson condensation, symmetry breaking and gapless excitations, phase transitions, Fermi liquids, spin density wave states, Fermi and fractional statistics, quantum Hall effects, topological and quantum order, spin liquids, and string condensation. Methods covered are the path integral, Green's functions, mean-field theory, effective theory, renormalization group, bosonization in one- and higher dimensions, non-linear sigma-model, quantum gauge theory, dualities, slave-boson theory, and exactly soluble models beyond one-dimension. This book is aimed at teaching graduate students and bringing them to the frontiers of research in condensed matter physics.

This text discusses the fundamental physical concepts involved in understanding charged particle and photon beams. The presentation is unified; particle dynamics in linear and circular accelerators are discussed in common language, as are the evolution of particle and laser beams. This book is aimed at the advanced undergraduate student, and contains numerous illustrative exercises.