LHCb

LHCb is a detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Its primary aim is to study differences between matter and antimatter (termed CP violation) in decays of beauty and charm hadrons . The level of CP violation provided by the Standard Model does not predict a large enough difference to explain why our universe is dominated by matter. LHCb aims to find new sources of CP violation that would be unambiguous signs of New Physics.

The Edinburgh group takes an active role both in the analysis of data collected by the experiment and detector development and operation. The LHCb experiment has recently undergone a substantial upgrade to allow operation with a higher rate of proton-proton collisions with improved performance. The Edinburgh group is involved both in the design of the upgraded Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detector and studies of the performance of the upgraded LHCb detector as a whole. In addition, the group is undertaking new activities for a future upgrade of the detector for operation in the late 2020s and 2030s. The group’s activities are led by Prof Franz Muheim.

Physics analysis

We are leading a wide range of analyses throughout the LHCb collaboration.

• Measurement of CP violation in the golden decay mode B_s → J/ψ φ, which is one of the roadmap measurements for the LHCb experiment.

• Measurements of CP violation and T violation in b→s loop transitions ('charmless b-decays') such as B_s → φφ and B_s → f(980)φ.

• Investigations of the B_s meson through lifetime measurements in CP-eigenstate final states.

• CKM parameter measurements using semi-leptonic decays of B-hadrons.

• Studies of exotic hadrons such as the X(3872), which is a candidate bound state of four quarks, a tetraquark. We are also leading searches for new bound states of five quarks, pentaquarks. 

• Studies of the properties of the charm sector, including characterisation of CP violation in charm mesons - which was observed for the first time in 2019 at LHCb - and searches for new charm hadrons.

• High-precision measurements of the electroweak sector, testing the validity of the Standard Model.

The latest exciting results from the LHCb experiment can be found on the LHCb public page.

Detector development and operation

• LHCb Edinburgh has played an active role in the development of the RICH detector since before the LHC began the main data taking in 2010. During LHC data-taking, the Edinburgh group is involved in the continuous operation of the RICH. For the LHCb upgrade we performed R+D for the new MaPMT photon detectors, leading Quality Assurance testing of these devices.

• Edinburgh also plays a central role in preparation for a future upgrade of the LHCb experiment, leading efforts on the RICH, TORCH and Mighty Tracker detectors.

PhD project opportunities in LHCb

People in LHCb

Telephone numbers in the list below are shown as UK numbers. Callers from outside the UK should remove the leading zero and use the UK country code (+44).

Name	Position	Contact details	Location	Photo
Academic staff
William Barter	UKRI Future Leaders Fellow	william.barter [at] ed.ac.uk	JCMB 3415
Peter Clarke	Professor	peter.clarke [at] ed.ac.uk 0131 650 6798	JCMB 3421
Silvia Gambetta	Lecturer	silvia.gambetta [at] ed.ac.uk	JCMB 3415
Franz Muheim	Professor	f.muheim [at] ed.ac.uk 0131 650 5235	JCMB 3410
Matthew Needham	Reader	matthew.needham [at] ed.ac.uk 0131 651 7037	JCMB 3401
Mark Williams	Royal Society University Research Fellow	m.williams [at] ed.ac.uk 0131 650 5240	JCMB 3409
Research staff
Federico Betti	Postdoctoral Research Associate on the LHCb experiment	federico.betti [at] ed.ac.uk	JCMB
Robert Currie	GridPP Site Administrator / Group Computing Expert / Software Architect	rob.currie [at] ed.ac.uk 0131 651 7685	JCMB 3420
Stephan Eisenhardt	Senior Research Fellow	s.eisenhardt [at] ed.ac.uk 0131 650 5300	JCMB 3412
Lais Soares Lavra	Postdoctoral Research Associate on the LHCb experiment	lais.soares.lavra [at] ed.ac.uk	JCMB
Federica Oliva	Postdoctoral Research Associate	foliva [at] ed.ac.uk	JCMB 3411
Ozlem Ozcelik	Postdoctoral Research Associate on the LHCb experiment	ozlem.ozcelik [at] ed.ac.uk	JCMB
Gediminas Sarpis	Postdoctoral Research Associate on the LHCb experiment	gediminas.sarpis [at] ed.ac.uk	JCMB 3422
Research postgraduates
Abhishek Bohare	Postgraduate Student	abohare [at] ed.ac.uk 07442 202462	JCMB 3305
Keira Farmer	Postgraduate Student	keira.farmer [at] ed.ac.uk	JCMB
Yiming Liu	Postgraduate Student	s1923755 [at] ed.ac.uk	JCMB 3305
Ryunosuke O'Neil	Postgraduate Student	r.oneil [at] ed.ac.uk	JCMB
Mary Richardson-Slipper	Postgraduate Student	m.richardson-slipper [at] ed.ac.uk	JCMB 3305