Office of China Programs

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China Development Grant - Physics Collaboration

R. Sekhar Chivukula Ph.D. and Elizabeth Simmons Ph.D.

Physics and Astronomy Department:

Proposal:

The time is ripe to broaden the connections between the MSU Particle Theory Group and the Center for High-Energy Physics at Tsinghua University. Profs. Chivukula and Simmons propose to visit the Center for High-Energy Physics at Tsinghua University, along with their postdoctoral associate Dr. Neil Christensen and their graduate student Mr. Baradwaj Coleppa, during the fall 2006 semester to foster a continuing collaboration involving the two groups. Both the MSU and Tsinghua groups are particularly interested in studies in preparation for upcoming particle physics experiments to be carried out at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva, Switzerland, starting in late 2007 or early 2008.

The collaborative theoretical work of Chivukula, He, and Simmons is motivated by the physics questions the LHC is designed to answer, and much remains to be done to fully understand the experimental consequences of their theories. During this visit, Chivukula, Simmons, Christensen, and Coleppa will participate in the workshop “TeV Physics and the LHC” being organized by the Tsinghua University Center for High-Energy Physics. The workshop will provide a forum in which to plan the studies to be carried out and will broaden the collaboration to include Dr. Christensen and Mr. Coleppa from MSU, as well as other members of the Tsinghua group.

In parallel with this proposal, the members of the Tsinghua University Center for High- Energy Physics plan to submit a proposal to the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation to support broadening the MSU/Tsinghua collaboration, including support for local expenses for Chivukula, Simmons, Christensen, and Coleppa during this visit and support for future visits of Tsinghua University personnel to MSU. Their visits to MSU will allow Tsinghua University physicists to interact with the entire MSU high-energy physics group.

In addition, the Center for High-Energy Physics is considering the appointment of Profs. Chivukula and Simmons to serve on an international “Advisory Committee”, to review the research of the Center and help in building further international linkages.

Outcomes:

The expected outcome of the proposed activities is to broaden the collaboration between MSU and Tsinghua University in research in high-energy physics. In addition to the participation of faculty, it is anticipated that there will be substantial involvement by postdoctoral associates and graduate students. As they are completed, the results of the collaborative studies will be published in refereed journals and presented in international conferences, thereby influencing the investigations to be conducted at the LHC. Finally, an active collaboration with Tsinghau University may provide a mechanism for recruiting exceptional new graduate students for the MSU Physics and Astronomy Department.