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The LHCb experiment is dedicated to making precision measurements involving beauty and charm hadrons at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The LHCb RICH detectors provide charged particle identification required to distinguish final states in many decays important to the LHCb physics programme. Time alignment of the RICH photon detectors is necessary in order to ensure a high photon collection efficiency. Using both a pulsed laser and proton-proton collision data the photon detectors are aligned to within 1 ns. The LHCb detector is uniquely positioned to measure production cross-sections at energies and rapidities inaccessible to other experiments. With 1.81 nb−1 of proton-proton collisions collected by the LHCb experiment in 2010 at center-of-mass energy √s = 7 TeV the production crosssection of D±s and D± mesons decaying to the φ{K+K−}π ± final state have been determined in bins of transverse momentum and rapidity. These measurements use a data-driven recursive optimisation technique to improve signal significance. The cross-section ratio is measured to be σ(D± ) σ(D± s ) = 2.32±0.27(stat)±0.26(syst), consistent with the ratio of charm-quark hadronisation fractions to D± and D±s mesons. Time-dependent interference between mixing of B0s -B0s mesons and decay to the final state J/ψφ gives rise to a CP violating phase φs. This phase is constrained to be small within the Standard Model, a significant deviation from which would be a signal of new physics. φs has been measured with 0.37 fb−1 of protonproton collision data recorded during 2011 by the LHCb experiment. Isolation of the signal distribution is achieved using the S-plot technique, and the analysis accounts for inclusive B0s →J/ψK+K− s-wave contributions. The measured value of φs = 0.16±0.18(stat)±0.06(syst) rad is the most precise measurement to date, and is consistent with Standard Model predictions.

A sample of $ L dt = 3.67 pb{-1} of minimum bias events observed using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at $\s=7 TeV is analyzed for Missing Transverse Energy (MET) response in the presence of in-time pile-up. We find that the MET resolution ($\sigma_\text{X,Y}$) is consistent with a simple model of the detector response for minimum bias events, scaling with respect to the sum of the scalar energy ($\sum E_\text{T}$) as $\sigma_\text{X,Y}=A\sqrt{\sum E_\text{T} }$. This behavior is observed in the presence of in-time pile-up and does not vary with global calibration schemes. We find a bias in the mean ($\mu_\text{X,Y}$) of the MET that is linear with respect to $\sum E_\text{T}$, leading to an asymmetry in the $\phi_\text{X,Y}$ distribution of the MET. We propose an explanation for this problem in terms of a misalignment of the nominal center of the ATLAS detector with respect to its real center. We contrast the data with a Monte Carlo sample produced using PYTHIA. We find that the resolution, bias and asymmetry are all approximately reproduced in simulation. / Graduate

Many ATLAS analyses study events with muons in them including those searching for the Higgs boson and new physics. Cosmics muons, however, can also occasionally enter the detector and mimic the trajectory of a muon from one of the collisions produced by CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. By understanding the different ways ATLAS triggers on, collects, reconstructs, and analyses data from cosmic rays and collisions, the flux of cosmic muons with transverse momenta above 20 GeV in the central region of the detector was measured to be 1.34 ± 0.06 (stat.) s^−1 m^−2 . At the same time the cosmic muon charge ratio has been measured to be 1.3 ± 0.1 (stat.). This measurement of the cosmic muon flux in ATLAS is the first step in quantifying the sizes of the cosmic muon backgrounds to various physics analyses that look for events with muons. / Graduate

This thesis presents the design qualification and construction of the Beam Scintillator Counter (BSC) for the CMS Collaboration at CERN in 2007 - 2008. The BSC detector is designed to aid in the commissioning of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) during the first 2 years of operation and provide technical triggering for beam halo and minimum-bias events. Using plastic scintillator tiles mounted at both ends of CMS, it will detect minimum ionizing particles through the low-to-mid luminosity phases of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) commissioning. During these early phases, the BSC will provide probably the most interesting and widely used data of any of the CMS sub-detectors and will be employed in the track based alignment procedure of the central tracker and commissioning of the Forward Hadron Calorimeter.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (p. [167]-170). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Northeastern University, 2008. / Title from title page (viewed March 9, 2009). Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Physics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 114-123).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2008. / Principal faculty advisor: Qaisar Shafi, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2008. / "Graduate Program in Physics and Astronomy." Includes bibliographical references.