Two decay channels of the ω(782) meson, into π+π-π0 and π+π-, are studied. The dynamics of the three-pion channel is represented using a two-dimensional distribution, called a Dalitz plot. A high-statistics Dalitz plot distribution is needed to test theoretical predictions and increase understanding of the decay mechanism. The isospin-breaking two-pion decay gives insight into the ρ-ω mixing. The ω→π+π- decay has previously been studied in π+π- spectra in high statistics e+e- experiments and with lower statistics in hadroproduction experiments. The collected evidence indicates that the resulting interference pattern strongly depends on the production reaction. In 2011 an experiment to investigate ω hadronic decays in pd→3Heω reaction was performed with the WASA detector. Two studies based on the collected data are included in this thesis. In the first, the dominant decay channel ω→π+π-π0 is selected and two experimental Dalitz plot distributions are created. Each distribution corresponds to one of the two incident beam energies used in the experiment. A fit to the Dalitz plots is performed using a parametrisation including the expected P-wave shape. The result indicates an onset of the intermediate ρ in the two-pion channel, as predicted by theoretical models. The efficiency corrected Dalitz plot bin contents are reported to facilitate comparison to theoretical predictions by direct fits to the experimental data. In the second study, the ω→π+π- decay channel is selected. For events with a 3Heπ+π- final state, the 3He missing mass is constructed in search for the ρ-ω interference pattern in pd production. No significant deviations around the ω mass position was found. Dedicated studies using experimental data to estimate background contribution and to extract signal acceptance shows that the background is too large to observe the expected signal with the collected data sample. The last part of the thesis presents pre-studies for using data collected at the KLOE detector for an ω→π+π-π0 Dalitz plot analysis. Since the ω mesons are produced in the e+e-→ωπ0 reaction, the study focuses on the impact of the π0-π0 interference.

In the current LHC era, a vast number of models for BSM physics are being tested. For predictions accurate enough to match experimental errors, theoretical calculations have to go beyond LO estimates. However, calculating one-loop corrections in BSM models involves many new particles with specific model dependent properties. Therefore, they are done largely by hand, or in partially–automated ways. I present a fully automated tool for the calculation of generic massive one-loop Feynman diagrams with four external particles, implemented as a module within the fully automated MadGolem framework. With this one can compute the NLO–QCD corrections to generic BSM heavy resonance production processes, for example in the context of supersymmetric theories.

Dissertation presented in ful lment of the requirements for the degree of: Master of Science in Physics 2016 / The Phase-II upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in the early 2020s will enable an order of magnitude increase in the data produced, unlocking the potential for new physics discoveries. In the ATLAS detector, the upgraded Hadronic Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) Phase-II front end read out system is currently being prototyped to handle a total data throughput of 5.1 TB/s, from the current 20.4 GB/s. The FPGA based Super Read Out Driver (sROD) prototype must perform an energy reconstruction algorithm on 2.88 GB/s raw data, or 275 million events per second. Due to the very high level of pro ciency required and time consuming nature of FPGA rmware development, it may be more e ective to implement certain complex energy reconstruction and monitoring algorithms on a general purpose, CPU based sROD co-processor. Hence, the feasibility of a general purpose ARM System on Chip based co-processing unit (PU) for the sROD is determined in this work. A PCI-Express test platform was designed and constructed to link two ARM Cortex-A9 SoCs via their PCI-Express Gen-2 x1 interfaces. Test results indicate that the latency of the PCI-Express interface is su ciently low and the data throughput is superior to that of alternative interfaces such as Ethernet, for use as an interconnect for the SoCs to the sROD. CPU performance benchmarks were performed on ve ARM development platforms to determine the CPU integer, oating point and memory system performance as well as energy e ciency. To complement the benchmarks, Fast Fourier Transform and Optimal Filtering (OF) applications were also tested. Based on the test results, in order for the PU to process 275 million events per second with OF, within the 6 s timing budget of the ATLAS triggering system, a cluster of three Tegra-K1, Cortex-A15 SoCs connected to the sROD via a Gen-2 x8 PCI-Express interface would be suitable. A high level design for the PU is proposed which surpasses the requirements for the sROD co-processor and can also be used in a general purpose, high data throughput system, with 80 Gb/s Ethernet and 15 GB/s PCI-Express throughput, using four X-Gene SoCs.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, School of Physics. Johannesburg. February, 2017 / The discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland marks the beginning of a new era: Physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). A model is proposed to describe numerous Run I features observed with both the ATLAS and CMS experiments. The model introduces a heavy scalar estimated to be around 270 GeV and an intermediate scalar which can decay into both dark matter and SM particles. Three different final state searches, linked by the new hypothesis, are presented. These are the hh → γγb¯ b, γγ + Emiss T and high mass diphoton channels. No significant excesses were observed in any channel using the available datasets and limits were set on the relevant cross sections times branching ratios. The lack of statistics in the γγb¯ b analysis prevents any conclusive statement in regard to the excess observed with Run I data. Observing no excess in the γγ + Emiss T channel with the current amount of data is also consistent with the intermediate scalar decaying to SM particles. This could explain the excess of Higgs bosons produced in associations with top quarks in the multilepton final states observed in ATLAS and CMS in Run I and Run II. The work presented provides a deeper understanding on the underlying phenomenology of the hypothesis and provides a foundation for future work. The ATLAS detector underwent a stringent consolidation and validation effort before data taking could commence in 2015. A high voltage board was designed and implemented into a portable test-bench used in the certification and validation process. In addition to these efforts, the electronics on the ATLAS detector are being improved for the Phase-II upgrade program in 2024. A software tool has been designed which integrates the envisioned Phase-II backend infrastructure into the existing ATLAS detector control system. This software is now an ATLAS wide common tool used by multiple sub-detectors in the community. / XL2017

A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2016. / Plastic scintillators play a key role in reconstructing the energy and tracks of hadronic particles that impinge the Tile Calorimeter of the ATLAS detector as a result of high energy particle collisions generated by the Large Hadron Collider of CERN. In the detector, plastic scintillators are exposed to harsh radiation environments and are therefore susceptible to radiation damage. The radiation damage effects to the optical properties and structural damage were studied for PVT based commercial scintillators EJ200, EJ208, EJ260 and BC408, as well as PS based UPS923A and scintillators manufactured for the Tile Calorimeter. Samples of dimensions 5x5x0.3 mm were subjected to irradiation using 6 MeV protons to doses of approximately 0.8 MGy, 8 MGy, 25 MGy and 25 MGy using the 6 MV tandem accelerator of iThemba LABS. Results show that damage leads to a reduced light output and loss in transmission character. Structural damage to the polymer base and the formation of free radicals occur for doses ≥ 8 MGy leading to reduced scintillation in the base and re-absorption of scintillation light respectively. Scintillators containing a larger Stokes shift, i.e. EJ260 and EJ208 exhibit the most radiation hardness. EJ208 is recommended as a candidate to be considered for the replacement of Gap scintillators in the TileCal for the 2018 upgrade. / LG2017

A dissertation submitted to the Faulty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. April 2017. / Plastic scintillators, situated in the Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), play an integral part in the detection of diffractive, energetic hadronic particles that result from high energy proton-proton collisions. As these particles traversetheplastic, theresultantdecayofthepolymerbaseemitsluminescentlightwhichacts as a signature of this interaction. However, the deleterious radiation environment in which the plastics are situated ultimately degrade the plastic through the formation of free radicals which initiate chemical reactions and alter the structure of the plastic. Radical formation was studied using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy in six plastic scintillator types of either polystyrene (PS) or polyvinyl toluene (PVT) base, and computational EPR studies were conducted on two small monomer structures and two large polymer, plastic-like computer models. Damage was simulated in the computational models by removing an increasing number of hydrogen atoms. Plastic samples, of volume 500 ⇥500 ⇥ 250 µm, were to subjected protons accelerated to 6 MeV using the tandem accelerator at iThemba LABS, Gauteng, to increasing target doses of 0.8 MGy, 2.5 MGy, 8.0 MGy, 25 MGy, 50 MGy, and 80 MGy. The experimental EPR data taken after two weeks of the sample exposure to air indicate the presence of peroxy-type radicals that initiate chemical reactions, discolour the plastic, and decrease the efficiency of the plastic. Furthermore, the data suggests that damaged PS and PVT samples are susceptible to different mechanisms of radiation damage. However, results pertaining to the decrease in the g-factor and the increase in normalised EPR intensity suggest that all plastics behave similarly using an EPR analysis as a function of dose. Thus, the EPR analysis could not identify a specific plastic that would perform better than the existing plastics used in the TileCal. The computational chemical potential results indicate that electron transfer between damaged pristine and damaged models is possible. In the two small damaged models, the computational EPR data indicate the presence of a various stable akyl-like radicals depending on the site from which the hydrogen atoms are removed. In the two large damaged models, these results indicate a number of alkyl-, benzyl-, and cyclohexadienyl-like radicals. / LG2017

Thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Physics at the University of the Witwatersrand School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, 2015. / A search for the pseudoscalar A boson, which is predicted by in many models with an extended Higgs sector, gives a gateway to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). This thesis presents the results of a search for gluon-fusion produced A in the decay to Zh, with a final state of two electrons or muons and two τ leptons, in 20.3 fb−1of proton-proton collision data at √s = 8 TeV. Each tau lepton is allowed to dacay either leptonically, τlep, or hadronically,τhad, giving rise to three final states, τlepτlep, τlepτhad and τhadτhad. Focus is placed on the methodology and results of the fully hadronic channel. No evidence for the existence of an A boson is found in the scanned range of 220 ≤ mA ≤ 1000 GeV and 95% CL upper limits are placed on the gluon-fusion cross section times branching ratio, σ × BR(A → Zh) × BR(h → ℓℓττ). The results are combined with a complementing A → Zh search, where h → b¯b, and interpreted in view of two-Higgs-Doublet-Models (2HDMs), where exclusion limits are placed on large sections of phasepace.

A study is presented on the production of vector boson (W and Z0) events in association with recoiling hadronic activity in the form of hadronic jets, using proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The dataset was taken by the ATLAS detector during the 2011 data-taking run, at a centre of mass energy p s = 7 TeV, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb 1. A measurement of the cross-section ratio of W+jets Z+jets events is de ned, reducing the large systematic uncertainties inherent in the experimental measurement of such events. Inclusive and di erential cross-sections are presented for W+jets Z+jets , as a function of a range of kinematic variables, and are compared to state-of- the-art theoretical predictions.

This thesis presents the measurement of the production cross section of a W boson with a single charm quark in 7 TeV proton-proton collisions using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The data analysed correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb 1 and were collected during 2011. This is the first time that ATLAS data has been used for this particular measurement. This cross section is of particular interest as a probe of the strange quark density of the proton. Typically, the strange quark density is considered to be suppressed relative to that of the other light-quarks in the proton sea. However, some analyses suggest a more symmetric composition of light-quarks in the proton sea. The results of this study aim to improve the precision of the determination of the strange quark density. The analysis uses events where the W boson decays to a muon and a neutrino. In such events, the charm quark is identified by its semileptonic decay to a soft muon within a hadronic jet. The charge correlation between the W boson and the soft muon is exploited to reduce the backgrounds substantially. The analysis results are combined with those obtained using additional decay channels. The measured cross section provides further constraint for the determination of the strange quark density, advancing the knowledge of the fundamental structure of the proton. The results are compared with predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD calculations obtained using various parton distribution function parameterisations. Additionally, the ratio of the strange-to-down sea-quark distributions is determined to be 0.96+0.26 0.30 at Q2 = 1.9 GeV2. This supports the hypothesis of a symmetric composition of light-quarks in the proton sea. The cross section ratio (W+ + c)= (W + c) is also determined and compared with different predictions for the asymmetry of the strange and anti-strange quark distribution functions.

A measurement of the Drell-Yan differential cross section at low invariant mass is presented in the di-muon channel. A 1.64 pb−1 dataset of √s = 7 TeV proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC is used. The measurement is made in an invariant mass range of 26 < M < 66 GeV where M is the invariant mass of the muon pair. A review of the relevant theoretical physics and the ATLAS detector is made. The analysis is described with particular attention paid to the determination of the isolation efficiency corrections for the Monte Carlo and the estimate of the multijet background. The fiducial differential cross section is calculated with a statistical uncertainty that varies between 0.8% and 1.2%. The systematic uncertainty is seen to vary between 2.4% and 4.1%. A cross section extrapolated to the full phase space is also presented. This is dominated by theoretical uncertainties from the variation of the factorisation and renormalisation scales. The obtained fiducial differential mass cross section is compared to theoretical predictions at NLO and NNLO in perturbative QCD. It is shown that a move beyond NLO is needed to describe the distribution well due to the restrictions of using a fixed order theoretical prediction. A combination with the electron channel measurement is also briefly discussed as well as comparisons to a di-muon measurement in an extended invariant mass range. This allows similar, but stronger conclusions to be drawn. A discussion is made of a PDF fit that uses the measurement presented here. The fit demonstrates the impact of the measurement on the PDFs and further supports the conclusion that a move to NNLO in pQCD is needed to describe the data.