From The School of Physics and Astronomy
In
The College of Science and Engineering
At
The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
6.9.23
Contacts:
Rhonda Zurn
College of Science and Engineering
rzurn@umn.edu
University Public Relations
unews@umn.edu
University of Minnesota theoretical physicists help expand the search for new particle. UMN
The University of Minnesota researchers’ new method of searching for the hypothetical axion involves measuring the “decay” of the particle into two muons—known particles that are essentially the heavier version of the electron—as illustrated in the above image. Photo credit: Patrick Green.
One of the most high-profile mysteries in physics today is what scientists refer to as the “Strong CP Problem.” Stemming from the puzzling phenomenon that neutrons do not interact with electric fields despite being made up of quarks—smaller, fundamental particles that carry electric charges—the Strong CP Problem puts into question the Standard Model of physics, or the set of theories scientists have been using to explain the laws of nature for years.
A team led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities theoretical physicists has discovered a new way to search for axions, hypothetical particles that could help solve this mystery. Working in collaboration with experimental researchers at the DOE’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the physicists’ new strategy opens up previously unexplored opportunities to detect axions in particle collider experiments.
The researchers’ paper is published and featured as the Editor’s suggestion in Physical Review Letters [below], a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Physical Society.
“As particle physicists, we’re trying to develop our best understanding of nature,” said Zhen Liu, co-author of the paper and an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota School of Physics and Astronomy. “Scientists have been tremendously successful in the past century in finding elementary particles through established theoretical frameworks. So, it’s extremely puzzling why neutrons do not couple to electric fields because in our known theory, we would expect them to. If we do discover the axion, it will be a great advance in our fundamental understanding of the structure of nature.”
One of the primary means for studying subatomic particles, and potentially discovering new ones, is collider experiments. Essentially, scientists force beams of particles to collide—and when they hit each other, the energy they produce creates other particles that pass through a detector, allowing researchers to analyze their properties.
Liu and his team’s proposed method involves measuring the “decay” product—or what happens when an unstable heavy particle transforms into multiple lighter particles—of the hypothetical axion into two muons, known particles that are essentially the heavier version of the electron. By working backward from the muon tracks in the detector to reconstruct such decays, the researchers believe they have a chance to locate the axion and prove its existence.
“With this research, we’re expanding ways we can search for the axion particle,” said Raymond Co, co-author of the paper and a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Minnesota School of Physics and Astronomy and William Fine Theoretical Physics Institute. “People have never used axion decay into muons as a way to search for the axion particle in neutrino or collider experiments before. This research opens up new possibilities to pave the way for future endeavors in our field.”
Liu and Co, along with University of Minnesota physics and astronomy postdoctoral researcher Kun-Feng Lyu and University of California, Berkeley postdoctoral researcher Soubhik Kumar, are behind the theoretical part of the research. They’re a part of the ArgoNeuT collaboration, which brings together theorists and experimentalists from across the country to study particles through experiments at Fermilab.
In this paper, the University of Minnesota-led theoretical team worked with the experimental researchers to perform a search for axions using their new method and existing data from the ArgoNeuT experiment. The researchers plan to use the experimental results to further refine their theoretical calculations of the axion production rate in the future.
The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science; the National Science Foundation; the United Kingdom Research and Innovation’s Science and Technology Facilities Council; and the UK’s Royal Society.
In addition to Liu, Co, Lyu, and Kumar, the team for this paper included researchers Roberto Acciarri, Bruce Baller, Vincent Basque, Flavio Cavanna, Roni Harnik, Ornella Palamara, Wanwei Wu, and Tingjun Yang (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory); Corey Adams (Argonne National Laboratory); Rory Fitzpatrick and Joshua Spitz (University of Michigan); Bonnie Fleming and Giacomo Scanavini (Yale University); Patrick Green (University of Manchester, University of Oxford); Kevin Kelly (European Organization for Nuclear Research or CERN); Karol Lang (University of Texas at Austin); Ivan Lepetic (Rutgers University); Xiao Luo (University of California, Santa Barbara); Mitchell Soderberg (Syracuse University); and Andrzej Szelc (University of Edinburgh).
Read the researchers’ companion paper, previously published in the Journal of High Energy Physics.
See the full article here .
Comments are invited and will be appreciated, especially if the reader finds any errors which I can correct. Use “Reply”.
five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings
Please help promote STEM in your local schools.
University of Minnesota Physics and Astronomy
Leading edge research. Our faculty participate in strong interdisciplinary collaborations and are helping to lead major research projects around the world.
Award-winning faculty who have received the top honors in their fields.
Two major institutes: Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics (MIfA) and The William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute (FTPI).
Our alumni have amazing careers. We train problem-solvers who are qualified to work in a diverse group of fields.
Well-connected with Minnesota industry: 30.7% of our alumni stay in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro area and enjoy Minnesota’s strong economy.
Hands-on learning environment: all of our students can earn a paycheck while doing real research and we have an award-winning Methods of Physics education program.
Nationally-recognized outreach programs like Zooniverse and Physics Force.
New facilities: The School is housed in two new buildings, one built in 2014 and the other completely remodeled in 2018.
Rich scientific history including seven Nobel Laureates (and eight Nobel Prizes).
Our faculty are part of the Center for Quantum Materials (CQM), The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), The Minnesota Nano Center, and The Minnesota Supercomputing Institute (MSI).
The College of Science and Engineering is one of the colleges of the The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. On July 1, 2010, the college was officially renamed from the Institute of Technology (IT). It was created in 1935 by bringing together the University’s programs in engineering, mining, architecture, and chemistry. Today, CSE contains 12 departments and 24 research centers that focus on engineering, the physical sciences, and mathematics.
Departments
Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics
Biomedical Engineering
Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Chemistry
Civil, Environmental, and GeoEngineering
Computer Science and Engineering
Earth Sciences (formerly called Geology and Geophysics)
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Industrial and Systems Engineering
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Physics and Astronomy
Additionally, CSE pairs with other departments at the University to offer degree-granting programs in:
Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, with CFANS (formerly two departments: Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, and Bio-based Products)
Statistics
And two other CSE units grant advanced degrees:
Technological Leadership Institute (formerly Center for the Development of Technological Leadership)
History of Science and Technology
Research centers
BioTechnology Institute
Characterization Facility
Charles Babbage Institute – CBI website
Digital Technology Center
William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute
Industrial Partnership for Research in Interfacial and Materials Engineering
Institute for Mathematics and its Applications
Minnesota Nano Center
NSF Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power
NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center
NSF Multi-Axial Subassemblage Testing (MAST) System
NSF National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics (NCED)
The Polar Geospatial Center
Center for Transportation Studies
University of Minnesota Supercomputing Institute
GroupLens Center for Social and Human-Centered Computing
Educational centers
History of Science and Technology
School of Mathematics Center for (K-12) Educational Programs
Technological Leadership Institute
UNITE Distributed Learning
The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities is a public research university in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, MN. The Twin Cities campus comprises locations in Minneapolis and St. Paul approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) apart, and the St. Paul location is in neighboring Falcon Heights. The Twin Cities campus is the oldest and largest in The University of Minnesota system and has the sixth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 51,327 students in 2019-20. It is the flagship institution of the University of Minnesota System, and is organized into 19 colleges, schools, and other major academic units.
The Minnesota Territorial Legislature drafted a charter for The University of Minnesota as a territorial university in 1851, seven years before Minnesota became a state. Today, the university is classified among “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity”. The University of Minnesota is a member of The Association of American Universities and is ranked 17th in research activity, with $954 million in research and development expenditures in the fiscal year 2018. In 2001, the University of Minnesota was included in a list of Public Ivy universities, which includes publicly funded universities thought to provide a quality of education comparable to that of the Ivy League.
University of Minnesota faculty, alumni, and researchers have won 26 Nobel Prizes and three Pulitzer Prizes. Among its alumni, the university counts 25 Rhodes Scholars, seven Marshall Scholars, 20 Truman Scholars, and 127 Fulbright recipients. The University of Minnesota also has Guggenheim Fellowship, Carnegie Fellowship, and MacArthur Fellowship holders, as well as past and present graduates and faculty belonging to The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, The National Academy of Sciences, The National Academy of Medicine, and The National Academy of Engineering. Notable University of Minnesota alumni include two vice presidents of the United States, Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, and Bob Dylan, who received the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers compete in 21 intercollegiate sports in the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference and have won 29 national championships. As of 2021, Minnesota’s current and former students have won a total of 76 Olympic medals.
The University of Minnesota was founded in Minneapolis in 1851 as a college preparatory school, seven years prior to Minnesota’s statehood. It struggled in its early years and relied on donations to stay open from donors including South Carolina Governor William Aiken Jr.
In 1867, the university received land grant status through the Morrill Act of 1862.
An 1876 donation from flour miller John S. Pillsbury is generally credited with saving the school. Since then, Pillsbury has become known as “The Father of the University.” Pillsbury Hall is named in his honor.
Academics
The university is organized into 19 colleges, schools, and other major academic units:
Center for Allied Health Programs
College of Biological Sciences
College of Continuing and Professional Studies
School of Dentistry
College of Design
College of Education and Human Development
College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences
Graduate School
Law School
College of Liberal Arts
Carlson School of Management
Medical School
School of Nursing
College of Pharmacy
Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs
School of Public Health
College of Science and Engineering
College of Veterinary Medicine
Institutes and centers
Six university-wide interdisciplinary centers and institutes work across collegiate lines:
Center for Cognitive Sciences
Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment, and the Life Sciences
Institute for Advanced Study, University of Minnesota
Institute for Translational Neuroscience
Institute on the Environment
Minnesota Population Center
In 2021, the University of Minnesota was ranked as 40th best university in the world by The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), which assesses academic and research performance. The same 2021 ranking by subject placed The University of Minnesota’s ecology program as 2nd best in the world, its management program as 10th best, its biotechnology program as 11th best, Mechanical Engineering and Medical Technology programs as 14th best, Law and Psychology programs as 19th best, and Veterinary Sciences program as 20th best. The Center for World University Rankings for 2021-22 ranked Minnesota 46th in the world and 26th in the United States. The 2021 Nature Index, which assesses the institutions that dominate high quality research output, ranked Minnesota 53rd in the world based on research publication data from 2020. U.S. News and World Report ranked Minnesota as the 47th best global university for 2021. The 2022 Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed Minnesota 86th worldwide, based primarily on teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
In 2021, The University of Minnesota was ranked as the 24th best university in the United States by The Academic Ranking of World Universities, and 20th in the United States in Washington Monthly’s 2021 National University Rankings. The University of Minnesota’s undergraduate program was ranked 68th among national universities by U.S. News and World Report for 2022, and 26th in the nation among public colleges and universities. The same publication ranked The University of Minnesota’s graduate Carlson School of Management as 28th in the nation among business schools, and 6th in the nation for its information systems graduate program. Other graduate schools ranked highly by U.S. News and World Report for 2022 include The University of Minnesota Law School at 22nd, The University of Minnesota Medical School, which was 4th for family medicine and 5th for primary care, The University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, which ranked 3rd, The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, which ranked 9th, The University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development, which ranked 10th for education psychology and special education, and The University of Minnesota School of Public Health, which ranked 10th.
In 2019, The Center for Measuring University Performance ranked The University of Minnesota 16th in the nation in terms of total research, 29th in endowment assets, 22nd in annual giving, 28th in the number of National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine memberships, 18th in its number of faculty awards, and 14th in its number of National Merit Scholars. Minnesota is listed as a “Public Ivy” in 2001 Greenes’ Guides The Public Ivies: America’s Flagship Public Universities.
Media
The Minnesota Daily has been published twice a week during the normal school season since the fall semester 2016. It is printed weekly during the summer. The Daily is operated by an autonomous organization run entirely by students. It was first published on May 1, 1900. Besides everyday news coverage, the paper has also published special issues, such as the Grapevine Awards, Ski-U-Mah, the Bar & Beer Guide, Sex-U-Mah, and others.
A long-defunct but fondly remembered humor magazine, Ski-U-Mah, was published from about 1930 to 1950. It launched the career of novelist and scriptwriter Max Shulman.
A relative newcomer to the university’s print media community is The Wake Student Magazine, a weekly that covers UMN-related stories and provides a forum for student expression. It was founded in November 2001 in an effort to diversify campus media and achieved student group status in February 2002. Students from many disciplines do all of the reporting, writing, editing, illustration, photography, layout, and business management for the publication. The magazine was founded by James DeLong and Chris Ruen. The Wake was named the nation’s best campus publication (2006) by The Independent Press Association.
Additionally, The Wake publishes Liminal, a literary journal begun in 2005. Liminal was created in the absence of an undergraduate literary journal and continues to bring poetry and prose to the university community.
The Wake has faced a number of challenges during its existence, due in part to the reliance on student fees funding. In April 2004, after the Student Services Fees Committee had initially declined to fund it, the needed $60,000 in funding was restored, allowing the magazine to continue publishing. It faced further challenges in 2005, when its request for additional funding to publish weekly was denied and then partially restored.
In 2005 conservatives on campus began formulating a new monthly magazine named The Minnesota Republic. The first issue was released in February 2006, and funding by student service fees started in September 2006.
Radio
The campus radio station, KUOM “Radio K,” broadcasts an eclectic variety of independent music during the day on 770 kHz AM. Its 5,000-watt signal has a range of 80 miles (130 km), but shuts down at dusk because of Federal Communications Commission regulations. In 2003, the station added a low-power (8-watt) signal on 106.5 MHz FM overnight and on weekends. In 2005, a 10-watt translator began broadcasting from Falcon Heights on 100.7 FM at all times. Radio K also streams its content at http://www.radiok.org. With roots in experimental transmissions that began before World War I, the station received the first AM broadcast license in the state on January 13, 1922, and began broadcasting as WLB, changing to the KUOM call sign about two decades later. The station had an educational format until 1993, when it merged with a smaller campus-only music station to become what is now known as Radio K. A small group of full-time employees are joined by over 20 part-time student employees who oversee the station. Most of the on-air talent consists of student volunteers.
Television
Some television programs made on campus have been broadcast on local PBS station KTCI channel 17. Several episodes of Great Conversations have been made since 2002, featuring one-on-one discussions between University faculty and experts brought in from around the world. Tech Talk was a show meant to help people who feel intimidated by modern technology, including cellular phones and computers.
sciencesprings 