Hello everyone! I am Santiago Cané, a junior student here at the University of Pittsburgh. I am pursuing a BS in Physics, following the graduate school preparation track. To tell a little about myself, one of my passions in life is playing soccer. As an Argentine, I have practiced the sport all my life, and I still get very nervous every weekend when my club, the Club Atletico Lanús, plays its league games.
This semester I will be working with Dr. Tae Min Hong in the Department of Physics and Astronomy for the ATLAS experiment, which is one of the four main experiments of the Large Hadron Collider (henceforth LHC) in Geneva, Switzerland.
The LHC is the world’s largest particle accelerator. It is a 27-kilometre ring in which two high-energy particle beams are accelerated at velocities close to the speed of light, and then collide. The resulting particles are observed by detectors (ATLAS is one of them). From this information on high energy collisions, one can describe the most intrinsic nature of particle interactions, and in that way try to unveil fundamental mysteries of our universe, such as the characteristics of dark matter, dark energy, or the discovery of new particles.
An important aspect to consider regarding particle colliders is the enormous amount of data which is analyzed. The ATLAS detector sees over a billion particle interactions every second. Logically, not all of this data can be stored. That is why a big area of work is related to the development of an efficient event selection (also known as trigger) system. Dr. Hong’s group at the University is involved in the research and development of this system.
Furthermore, in four years the LHC will undergo a major upgrade, called High-Luminosity LHC. In this improved accelerator, the number of particle collisions will increase by a factor of 5 to 7. This means that rare physics mechanisms will be studied in more detail (like the decay of the Higgs boson, the particle which gives mass to the entire Universe). On the other hand, it also implies that important upgrades in the detectors’ trigger system are essential for the efficiency of future discoveries.
I am currently working on the development of a new jet trigger in the context of High-Luminosity LHC. To do this, I am analyzing with computer simulations the collisions in this unprecedented high energy environment, in order to accurately decide on the best selection criteria to discriminate the events we want to save. Also, I plan to be involved in the next steps of the trigger development, which include using machine learning and firmware design techniques to implement the trigger in the detector.
Lastly, regarding my plans for the future, I am thinking of attending graduate school for a PhD in physics. The CURF is giving me a unique opportunity to be involved in an important research project, in which I not only learn about a specific field, but also incorporate new skills which will transversally help me in any future research or personal project I may have.
