LHCb
LHCb is a detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. It aims is to study differences between matter and anti-matter (termed CP violation) in decays of B and D mesons . 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. From 2018, the LHCb experiment will undergo 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 the studies of the performance of the upgraded LHCb detector as a whole. The groups activities are led by Prof Franz Muheim.
Physics analysis
We are leading a wide range of analyses related to the production and properties of b mesons.
- Measurement of CP violation in the golden decay mode Bs → 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 Bs → φφ and Bs → f(980)φ.
- CKM parameter measurements using semi-leptonic b-decays
- Studies of exotic hadrons such as the X(3872) and the Z(4430).
Detector development and operation
- LHCb Edinburgh took an active role in the development of the RICH detector before the LHC began the main data taking in 2010. This involved extensive testing of the HPD photon detectors in the RICH. During LHC data taking, the Edinburgh group was involved in the continuous operation of the RICH.
- For the LHCb upgrade we performed R+D for the new MaPMT photon detectors. Edinburgh now leads Quality Assurance testing of these devices in preparation for installation in 2018
The latest exciting results from the LHCb experiment can be found on the LHCb public page.
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 | ||||
| Peter Clarke | Professor | peter.clarke [at] ed.ac.uk | JCMB 3421 |  |
| Franz Muheim | Professor | f.muheim [at] ed.ac.uk | JCMB 3422 |  |
| Matthew Needham | Reader | mneedham [at] staffmail.ed.ac.uk | JCMB 3401 | |
| Steve Playfer | Professor | s.m.playfer [at] ed.ac.uk | JCMB 3408 |  |
| Research staff | ||||
| Greig Cowan | STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellow | g.cowan [at] ed.ac.uk | JCMB 5413 |  |
| Robert Currie | PDRA | rob.currie [at] ed.ac.uk | JCMB 3420 | |
| Stephan Eisenhardt | Senior Research Fellow | s.eisenhardt [at] ed.ac.uk | JCMB 3412 |  |
| Silvia Gambetta | PDRA | silvia.gambetta [at] ed.ac.uk | JCMB 3415 | |
| Marco Pappagallo | Postdoctoral Research Associate on the LHCb experiment | Marco.Pappagallo [at] ed.ac.uk | JCMB 3411 |  |
| Research postgraduates | ||||
| Emmy Gabriel | Postgraduate Student | e.p.m.gabriel [at] sms.ed.ac.uk | JCMB 5301 |  |
| Konstantin Gizdov | Postgraduate Student | k.gizdov [at] ed.ac.uk | JCMB 5301 |  |
| Sara Mitchell | Postgraduate Student | s1872836 [at] sms.ed.ac.uk | JCMB | |
| Stefano Petrucci | Postgraduate Student | s1793056 [at] sms.ed.ac.uk | JCMB 5301 | |
| Iwan Smith | Postgraduate Student | s1430611 [at] sms.ed.ac.uk | JCMB 5301 |  |
| Jennifer Zonneveld | Postgraduate Student | s1668588 [at] sms.ed.ac.uk | JCMB 5301 |  |