National Institute for Subatomic Physics Nikhef Annual Report 2010
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Annual Report 2010 Nikhef Annual Report National Institute for 2010 • National Institute for Subatomic Physics Physics Institute for Subatomic • National Subatomic Physics Nikhef Annual Report 2010 National Institute for Subatomic Physics Nikhef 1 Annual Report 2010 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: Kees Huyser, Louk Lapikás, Frank Linde, Vanessa Mexner, Ivo van Vulpen Layout: Kees Huyser Printer: Gildeprint Drukkerijen, Enschede Photos: Maximilien Brice, Kees Huyser, Sijbrand de Jong, Wim de Knegt, Jan Koopstra, Egge van der Poel, Marcel Vervoort, Martinus Veltman, CERN, Nikhef Cover: Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland 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 pro- jects LISA 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 facility operated by the Grid group. Nikhef has a theory group with both its own research programme and close contacts with the experimental groups. 2 Nikhef Annual Report 2010 Contents Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................5 Reviews ...........................................................................................................................................................7 1.1 The gang of four ........................................................................................................................................................................................8 1.2 Theoretical physics and the LHC ..........................................................................................................................................................11 Research .........................................................................................................................................................17 2.1 ATLAS: Re-discovery of 20th century particle physics ........................................................................................................................18 2.2 LHCb: Hunting New Physics with b quarks .........................................................................................................................................20 2.3 ALICE: Relativistic Heavy-Ion Physics ..................................................................................................................................................22 2.4 ANTARES & KM3NeT: Neutrino Telescopes .........................................................................................................................................24 2.5 The Pierre Auger Observatory: Detecting ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays ........................................................................................26 2.6 Gravitational physics: The dynamics of spacetime ...........................................................................................................................28 2.7 XENON & DARWIN: Dark Matter Experiments ...................................................................................................................................30 2.8 Theoretical physics ................................................................................................................................................................................32 2.9 Detector Research & Development ......................................................................................................................................................35 2.10 Grid: Large-scale computing .................................................................................................................................................................37 Output .........................................................................................................................................................39 3.1 Publications .............................................................................................................................................................................................40 3.2 Theses ......................................................................................................................................................................................................51 3.3 Talks .........................................................................................................................................................................................................53 3.4 Posters ......................................................................................................................................................................................................58 3.5 Jamboree ..................................................................................................................................................................................................60 3.6 Awards & Grants .....................................................................................................................................................................................61 Nikhef & Society ................................................................................................................................................63 4.1 Outreach & Communication .................................................................................................................................................................64 4.2 Education .................................................................................................................................................................................................67 4.3 Knowledge transfer ................................................................................................................................................................................70 4.4 Memberships ...........................................................................................................................................................................................71 4.5 Outreach Talks.........................................................................................................................................................................................73 Resources .........................................................................................................................................................75 5.1 Organigram ..............................................................................................................................................................................................76 5.2 Organisation ............................................................................................................................................................................................77 5.3 Funding and Expenses ...........................................................................................................................................................................78 5.4 Grants .......................................................................................................................................................................................................79 5.5 Personnel .................................................................................................................................................................................................81 5.6 Master students ......................................................................................................................................................................................85 5.7 Apprentices .............................................................................................................................................................................................86 Glossary .........................................................................................................................................................87 3 Annual Report 2010 Nikhef 4 Nikhef Annual Report 2010 Introduction My introduction