1. Topic ID: 0136
  2. Research topic: Study of diffraction and the properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma in p+Pb and Pb+Pb collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
  3. Supervisor: prof. dr hab. inż. Mariusz Przybycień
  4. Supervisor’s email address: mariusz.przybycien@agh.edu.pl
  5. Abstract: The main aim of this project is to measure differential cross sections for the coherent diffractive photoproduction of light vector mesons such as ρ0, ω and possibly φ, in lead-lead (Pb+Pb) and in proton-lead (p+Pb) collisions at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon-pair of √sNN = 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The cross-sections will be measured as functions of such observables as the invariant mass of the decay products, its rapidity and transverse momentum. They will be measured in a fiducial region corresponding to the acceptance of the ATLAS detector and compared to phenomenological model predictions.

    In the second half of the PhD study, the interested candidate can be also involved in the study of jets produced in proton-proton or heavy-ion collisions. Measurements of jets allow for a deeper insight into the dynamics of a high energy particles' collision, and in the case of the heavy-ion collisions, to study the dense and hot medium called the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) - a new state of matter, which is believed to have been dominating in the early Universe, and at present exist only in such extreme objects as e.g. neutron stars.

    During the first year of the PhD study, the successful candidate will perform so-called qualification task, a necessary work to be done for the experiment, to qualify for authorship of the ATLAS Collaboration publications. The exact extent of the qualification task will be decided later, according to the current needs of the experiment.

    More information on the current involvement of prof. M. Przybycień in the international high energy physics projects can be found here: http://home.agh.edu.pl/mariuszp/prace.html
  6. Research facilities: The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest and most powerful particle collider ever built, is located at the leading scientific laboratory in the world - CERN near Geneva, Switzerland. It is capable of colliding protons and/or heavy ions at unprecedented high energies. ATLAS, the largest one of four major experiments currently operating at the LHC, is a multipurpose detector, with excellent capabilities of particle reconstruction and identification, even in such a demanding environment as the central collisions of heavy ions in which usually thousands of particles are produced in the final state.

    The data to be used in this project were collected by the ATLAS experiment in p+Pb and Pb+Pb collisions. The current participation of the AGH UST team in the ATLAS experiment is covered by the grant obtained from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

    The successful candidate will have full access to the ATLAS data and all necessary computing facilities at CERN, as well as to the local computing infrastructure at the AGH UST and Cyfronet.
    The main source of funding for the stipend is a subsidy, but additional scholarships can be provided to the best students with a grant from the National Science Centre of Poland.
  7. Funding source: Subsidy