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Search for Colorful Quantum Black Holes Decaying to An SEARCH FOR COLORFUL QUANTUM BLACK HOLES DECAYING TO AN ELECTRON-JET FINAL STATE WITH THE ATLAS EXPERIMENT by ANDREAS D. W. REINSCH A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of Physics and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2012 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Andreas D. W. Reinsch Title: Search for Colorful Quantum Black Holes Decaying to an Electron-Jet Final State with the ATLAS Experiment This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of Physics by: Dr. Eric Torrence Chair Dr. David Strom Advisor Dr. Stephen Hsu Member Dr. Jens N¨ockel Member Dr. Michael Kellman Outside Member and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research & Innovation/ Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2012 ii c June 2012 Andreas D. W. Reinsch iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Andreas D. W. Reinsch Doctor of Philosophy Department of Physics June 2012 Title: Search for Colorful Quantum Black Holes Decaying to an Electron-Jet Final State with the ATLAS Experiment A search for quantum black holes with color charge decaying to one electron and one quark has been performed using data collected by the ATLAS Experiment at the Large Hadron Collider corresponding to 2.29 fb−1. No excess over the expected Standard Model interactions has been observed. Limits are set on the production cross section for events with one electron and one jet resulting from new physical phenomena. Models with a combined invariant mass of the electron and jet larger than or equal to 2.5 TeV and a cross section above 2.6 fb are excluded at the 95% confidence level. This allows the exclusion of a significant part of the parameter space of quantum black hole models. iv CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Andreas D. W. Reinsch GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon Fernuniversit¨at Hagen, Hagen, Germany Ruprecht-Karls-Universit¨at Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, Physics, 2012, University of Oregon Vordiplom, Betriebswirtschaftslehre, 2006, Fernuniversit¨at Hagen Master of Science, Physics, 2005, University of Oregon Vordiplom, Physik, 2004, Ruprecht-Karls-Universit¨at Heidelberg AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Experimental Searches for Physics Beyond the Standard Model Trigger Algorithms in High Energy Physics Experiments Aggregate Market Valuations of Stocks, Bonds and Real Estate and Long-Term Investment Strategies PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Research Assistant, University of Oregon, 2007 – 2012 Graduate Teaching Fellow, University of Oregon, 2005 – 2007 v PUBLICATIONS: G. Aad et al. (The ATLAS Collaboration), Search for strong gravity signatures in same-sign dimuon final states using the ATLAS detector at the LHC, Phys. Lett. B 709, 322 (2012). G. Aad et al. (The ATLAS Collaboration), Observation of W τντ Decays with the ATLAS Experiment, Tech. Rep. ATLAS-CONF-→ 2010-097, CERN, Geneva (2010). A. Reinsch for the ATLAS Collaboration, The Tau Trigger at the ATLAS Experiment, Proceedings of Science, EPS-HEP 2009 (Scuola Int. Sup. Studi Avan., Trieste, Italy, 2009), pp. 409. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank my adviser Prof. David Strom for his support and guidance during my years of research leading to this dissertation. Despite having many responsibilities at the ATLAS Experiment, he always found time to meet and discuss all issues in his positive and friendly manner. With his quick understanding of my questions, problems and ideas, he was able to offer thoughtful advice and solutions to my problems. Next, I would like to thank Dr. Mansoora Shamim. Sharing the same office with me at CERN, she was always available for a quick chat or a profound discussion about the details of problems in experimental High Energy Physics. With her dedication to detail and accuracy, she helped me improving my own work habits considerably. I also very much enjoyed her occasional dinner invitation, where I was able to enjoy her cooking of Pakistani dishes. I’m also very thankful to Dr. Olya Igonkina. I arrived at CERN during her post-doctoral research for the University of Oregon. During my first months at CERN, she helped me not only to get acquainted with life at CERN, but to extend my knowledge of the tau trigger and improve my programming skills notably. With her help and support I was able to make quick contributions to the ATLAS Tau Trigger group. vii I would like to thank the entire high energy physics group at the University of Oregon for the open, friendly and supportive atmosphere. The feedback I received for my presentations in our weekly group meetings helped me to improve the analysis described in this dissertation significantly. I would also like to thank all other collaborators with which I had the pleasure to work, including Hugo Beauchemin, Massimiliano Bellomo, Maarten Boonekamp, Sourabh Dube, Ian Hinchliffe, Brian Martin, Jason Nielson, Matthias Schott, Peter Steinbach and Alessandro Tricoli. During my four years of research at CERN, I have also received great mental support by my girlfriend Eug´enie Stebler, with whom I was able to share all my thoughts and problems. I am grateful for all the patience she had and the sacrifice she made during the time I wrote this dissertation. I’m especially thankful to my parents, Elisabeth Schneider-Reinsch and Heinz Reinsch, for the help and support they gave me in so many ways. They always encouraged and motivated me to do what I wanted to do most. I’m grateful to them for giving me the opportunity and the means to follow my interests for more than 30 years. I would also like to mention my sister Christine Reinsch, who gave birth to a healthy boy named Eliah Reinsch during my stay at CERN. This was a particular happy moment in my life. Last, but not least, I would like to thank J¨org Mechnich, Elizabeth Ptacek, Peter Radloff, Mary Robinson and Jacob Siercy with whom I spend many good moments. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION....................................... ............... 1 System of Units .......................................... .............. 4 II. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND............................... ....... 5 The Standard Model. ............ 5 Elementary Particles .................................... ............. 6 Fundamental Interactions . ........... 8 Other Aspects of the Standard Model . ... 13 Factorization of Proton-Proton Interactions . ......... 14 Problems of the Standard Model . ... 16 Models of Extra Dimensions . ....... 19 ADD-type Extra Dimensions . ...... 20 RS-type Extra Dimensions. ....... 22 Model of a Large Hidden Sector . .... 24 Semi-Classical Black Holes . ......... 24 Semi-Classical Black Hole Formation . ... 25 Semi-Classical Black Hole Decay . ..... 27 Quantum Black Holes . ......... 30 Limits from Collider Experiments . ...... 33 III. THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER ............................. .... 36 Introduction.......................................... ................ 36 The LHC Parameters...................................... ........... 37 The LHC Injector Complex . ....... 39 ix Chapter Page IV. THE ATLAS EXPERIMENT . ...... 41 Overview of the ATLAS Detector ............................ ......... 41 The Atlas Coordinate System . ........ 42 The Inner Detector ...................................... ............. 44 The Pixel Detector ..................................... ............ 46 The Semi-Conductor Tracker . ..... 47 The Transition Radiation Tracker . ...... 48 The Calorimeter......................................... ............. 49 The Electromagnetic Calorimeter . ...... 51 The Hadronic Calorimeter . ..... 53 The Muon Spectrometer .................................... .......... 55 The Magnet System ....................................... ........... 57 The Trigger and Data Acquisition System . .... 59 Instantaneous Luminosity Measurement . .... 60 LUCID ............................................... ............. 61 2011 Luminosity Callibration . .... 61 V. EVENT RECONSTRUCTION AND OBJECT IDENTIFICATION . 63 Sliding Window Clustering . .. 63 Tracks............................................. ................... 65 Inside-Out Tracking . .......... 65 Outside-In Tracking . .......... 67 Electrons............................................ ................. 68 Standard Reconstructed Electrons . ...... 69 Electron Identification . ........... 69 Photons.............................................. ................ 73 Photon Reconstruction ................................... .......... 73 Photon Identification . .......... 75 Jets................................................ .................. 75 x Chapter Page Jet Finding Algorithms . .. 75 Jet Reconstruction ...................................... ........... 79 Muons ................................................ ............... 80 Hadronically Decaying Taus . ...... 81 Missing Transverse Momentum . ........ 81 VI. MONTE CARLO SIMULATION AND EVENT CHARACTERISTICS ....................................... ......... 83 Quantum Black Hole Signal Samples . 85 Signal Event Characteristics . ............ 89 Background Sources ...................................... ............ 91 Background Samples. ........... 96 QCD Events .......................................... ............. 96 W /Z +Jets Events......................................... .......
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