Special Topics in Experimental Physics

LHC Physics

GRS PY 898 B8 (Spring 2009)




Professor        Tulika Bose  (tulika at bu.edu)

                           Physics Research Building (PRB) 369, 617-353-6027
                           Webpage:  http://buphy.bu.edu/people/show/tulika

Time/Place       Mon 2:00--4:30 PM PRB 261

Office Hours    Wed,Thurs 2:00--3:30 PM PRB 369 (or by appointment)



  • Introduction
  • Course Description
  • Lectures
  • Syllabus/Class Schedule



  • Introduction:

    The much anticipated collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) this summer  will herald a new era in elementary particle physics. Its unexplored energy domain will provide unique opportunities to search for new physics at the TeV scale. This is particularly interesting since such an energy regime is preferred by many theoretical models that strive to resolve some of the known problems associated with the Standard Model of particle physics.  

    LHC CMS Higgs Event

    Video: CERN in 3 minutes


    Course Description:

    This course will start with an overview of the LHC and the four experiments (ATLAS, CMS, LHCb and ALICE) that will record particle collisions from proton-proton interactions at 14 TeV. Thereafter, different experimental techniques/methods critical for physics analyses at the LHC will be discussed: Trigger and data-acquisition, lepton identification, measurement of jets, tracking, Monte Carlo techniques, statistical methods, etc.


    The latter part of the course will consist of a series of discussion seminars. The exact number of seminars will be adapted to the actual number of participants. Students will review selected seminars beforehand and present a summary in class along with items for further discussion/explanation. These seminars will cover major physics topics that will be studied at the LHC.

    With collisions expected later this summer, a brief review of the latest commissioning activities at CERN will be presented during the duration of the course.

    This course is suitable for all those who are interested in LHC physics and in particular graduate students that are keen on experimental high energy physics. The course should also be of use to theory/phenomenology graduate students who can learn about the LHC, the detectors, and experimental techniques and methods.



    Lectures: