[Triumf-seminars] TRIUMF Special Seminar today at 14:00

[postmaster at admin.triumf.ca]

Date/Time: Wed 2007-11-21 at 14:00

Location:  Auditorium          

Speaker:   Oliver Stelzer-Chilton (Oxford)

Title:     The W Boson Mass - A Window to the Unknown

Abstract: The Standard Model of particle physics is a very successful theory - a theory that has been tested experimentally with increasing precision. However, there are several missing, yet unexplained pieces. Central to the missing pieces is the question of the origin of mass which, in the Standard Model, is introduced through the mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking by a Higgs field. If it exists, it gives rise to a new particle, the Higgs boson, that has not yet been observed. Precision observables allow for a unique laboratory to test the particle spectrum in nature. It is through radiative quantum corrections that the W boson mass is sensitive to other particles. As a result, it can be used to set a significant constraint on the mass of the Higgs boson, thus opening a window to the unknown. In the first W boson mass measurement from the Collider Detector at Fermilab in Run II, the W boson mass was measured to Mw =  80.413 +- 0.034(stat)+- 0.034(sys) GeV/c2 . With a total uncertainty of 48 MeV/c2, this represents the single most precise W boson mass measurement to date. The updated Higgs boson mass constraint is MH = 76(+33)(-24) GeV/c2. This significantly narrows down the mass window for a direct Higgs boson search. The completion of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider offers the exciting potential to discover the Higgs boson.


Stimulants available 15 minutes before the talk. The speaker is an ATLAS research scientist candidate.

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