Academic Program

(version of March 12th, 2006)

1. Electroweak Theory - Sally Dawson, BNL
   • Standard Model Lagrangian; from symmetries to particles
   • Electroweak symmetry breaking; Higgs boson searches
   • Importance of the TeV scale
2. Theory of Hadronic Collisions I - William Kilgore, BNL
   • QCD theory and parton model
   • Parton Density Functions
   • Parton level event generators
3. Theory of Hadronic Collisions II - Torbjörn Sjöstrand, Lund
   • Parton shower Monte Carlo's and matching issues
   • Hadronization and decay
   • Underlying event and beam remnants
4. Heavy Flavor Physics I - Sheldon Stone, Syracuse
   • b and c-quark physics
5. Heavy Flavor Physics II - Kirsten Tollefson, MSU and Erich Varnes, Arizona
   • The experience of discovery: the top quark
6. Beyond the Standard Model - Matt Strassler, Washington
   • Models: supersymmetry, extra dimensions, dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking, ...
   • What new particles and phenomena could one expect (e.g. non-standard Higgses)
   • Clues to the origin of flavor (e.g., quark and lepton substructure)
7. Detectors - Rob Roser, Fermilab
   • Generic detector concepts and components
   • Detector simulations (GEANT, fast simulations)
8. Reconstructing Simple and Compound Objects - Marjorie Shapiro, LBNL
   • Object primitives (tracking, energy, particle ID...)
   • e, gamma, muon
   • W, Z, H
   • Hadrons, jets, tau, neutrinos
   • b, c, t, J/psi, upsilon (including B's, D's, etc.)
9. Tracking and Vertexing - Aaron Dominguez, Nebraska
   • Reconstructing tracks from hits
   • 2D and 3D space points
   • Multiplicity, ghosts
   • Vertexing
   • Secondary vertices
10. Hadrons, jets, missing E_T, neutrinos - Joey Huston, Michigan State
    • Hadrons (K/pi separation), jets, missing E_T, neutrinos, taus
11. Detector and Physics Calibration - Nick Hadley, Maryland
    • Hardware calibration (channel-to-channel calibration, scale calibration, gain calibration; detector alignment)
    • Physics object calibration (data-based techniques, comparison with Monte Carlo simulations)
12. Jet Energy Scale - Beate Heinemann, Liverpool
    • Jet energy scale calibration
13. Triggers - Gustaaf Brooijmans, Columbia
    • Trigger system architecture, data flow, data acquisition
    • Introduction to event selection; trigger tables
    • Triggers for physics, interplay of triggers and analysis
    • On-line data quality checking
14. Physics with Accelerators - Roger Dixon, Fermilab
    • Evolution of accelerator techniques (e.g., environments, rates, fixed targets vs. colliders, comparing e⁺e^- to hadron colliders)
    • Hadron collider luminosity, pile-up, multiple interactions, RF buckets
15. Physics Analysis I - John Womersley, RAL
    • Analysis of distributions: binning, fitting, convolution and deconvolution
    • Techniques for extracting signals from data distributions: control and signal regions, shape separation, bump hunting, etc.
    • Roles of simulations and analysis techniques without simulations
    • Determining properties from fully reconstructed events (kinematic reconstruction and Monte Carlo template technique comparison)
16. Physics Analysis II - Louis Lyons, Oxford
    • Systematics versus statistics
    • Frequentism versus Bayesianism
    • Parameter determinations, limits, criteria for discovery, effect of systematics
    • Optimizing for limits and for discovery
17. Explorations of the TeV scale During the First Years of the LHC - Chris Hill, Fermilab
    • Origin of the top quark mass
    • Possible hints for new physics
    • Theoretical speculations and how to interpret them
18. Experimental Program During the First Years of the LHC - Dan Green, Fermilab
    • Energy scale; measurements of basic distributions (multiplicities, jets, W, Z, ...); hints to watch for
    • Integration process; interplay between commissioning and physics