National Institute for Subatomic Physics Annual Report 2014
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Annual Report 2014 Nikhef National Institute for Subatomic Physics Annual Report 2014 National Institute for Subatomic Physics Nikhef Colophon Nikhef Nationaal instituut voor subatomaire fysica National Institute for Subatomic Physics Visiting address Post address Science Park 105 P.O. Box 41882 1098 XG Amsterdam 1009 DB Amsterdam The Netherlands The Netherlands Telephone: +31 (0)20 592 2000 Fax: +31 (0)20 592 5155 E-mail: [email protected] URL: http://www.nikhef.nl Science communication Contact: Vanessa Mexner Telephone: +31 (0)20 592 5075 E-mail: [email protected] Editors: Stan Bentvelsen, Wouter Hulsbergen, Kees Huyser, Louk Lapikás, Frank Linde, Melissa van der Sande Layout: Kees Huyser Printer: Gildeprint Drukkerijen, Enschede Photos: Kees Huyser, Stan Bentvelsen, Jan Koopstra, Marco Kraan, Arne de Laat, Hanne Nijhuis, CERN Front cover: First full KM3NeT string of 18 optical modules assembled at Nikhef. Deployment in the Mediterranean Sea follows early 2015. Back cover: The Standard Model of particles since the discovery of the Higgs boson. Nikhef is the National Institute for Subatomic Physics in the Netherlands, in which the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter, the University of Amsterdam, VU University Amsterdam, Radboud University Nijmegen and Utrecht University collaborate. Nikhef coordinates and supports most activities in experimental particle and astroparticle physics in the Netherlands. Nikhef participates in experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, notably ATLAS, LHCb and ALICE. Astroparticle physics activities at Nikhef are fourfold: the ANTARES and KM3NeT neutrino telescope projects in the Mediterranean Sea; the Pierre Auger Observatory for cosmic rays, located in Argentina; gravitational-wave detection via the Virgo interferometer in Italy, and the projects eLISA and Einstein Telescope; and the direct search for Dark Matter with the XENON detector in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory in Italy. Detector R&D, design and construction take place at the laboratory located at Science Park Amsterdam as well as at the participating universities. Data analysis makes extensive use of large-scale computing at the Tier-1 grid facility operated jointly by Nikhef and SURFsara. Nikhef has a theory group with both its own research programme and close contacts with the experimental groups. 2 Nikhef Annual Report 2014 Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Reviews ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 “It’s a great privilege to work at Nikhef. No company will allow you to hunt the Higgs particle for decades.” ........................8 1.2 “Whatever we discover in the next decade, it will be something completely new.” ......................................................................11 1.3 CERN – A modern European centre of excellence is turning 60 .....................................................................................................14 1.4 Big Data: Wat en Hoe? ..............................................................................................................................................................................19 Research ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 25 2.1 ATLAS – Harvesting LHC Run 1 ..........................................................................................................................................................26 2.2 LHCb – Probing physics beyond the Standard Model .......................................................................................................................29 2.3 ALICE – Relativistic Heavy-Ion Physics ..............................................................................................................................................31 2.4 Neutrino Telescopes – ANTARES & KM3NeT ................................................................................................................................33 2.5 Gravitational Waves – The dynamics of spacetime .............................................................................................................................35 2.6 Cosmic Rays – Pierre Auger Observatory ............................................................................................................................................37 2.7 Dark Matter – Dark Matter Experiments ..............................................................................................................................................39 2.8 Theoretical Physics ....................................................................................................................................................................................41 2.9 Detector Research & Development .......................................................................................................................................................43 2.10 Grid Computing – Physics Data Processing and ICT infrastructure ..............................................................................................46 Output ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 49 3.1 Publications ................................................................................................................................................................................................50 3.2 Theses ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................60 3.3 Talks .............................................................................................................................................................................................................63 3.4 Posters .........................................................................................................................................................................................................68 3.5 Jamboree .....................................................................................................................................................................................................69 3.6 Awards & Grants .......................................................................................................................................................................................70 Nikhef & Society ............................................................................................................................................................................... 71 4.1 Outreach & Communication ..................................................................................................................................................................72 4.2 Education ....................................................................................................................................................................................................75 4.3 Knowledge Transfer – Valorisation & Spin-off Activities ..................................................................................................................77 4.4 Memberships ..............................................................................................................................................................................................79 4.5 Outreach Talks ..........................................................................................................................................................................................82 Resources .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 83 5.1 Organigram ................................................................................................................................................................................................84 5.2 Organisation ...............................................................................................................................................................................................85 5.3 Funding & Expenses .................................................................................................................................................................................86 5.4 Grants ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................87 5.5 Personnel ....................................................................................................................................................................................................89 5.6 Master Students .........................................................................................................................................................................................93