MPhys project: Analysis of Data from the BaBar Experiment

Supervisors:

Project:

The Edinburgh PPE group is involved in the BaBar colliding-beam experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre (SLAC) in California. The experiment is taking data since 1999. The primary objective is the study of CP violation in the decays of $B$ mesons. In 2001, the BaBar experiment made the first observation of time-dependent CP violating asymmetries between the decays of $B^0$ mesons ($\bar{b}d$), and $\bar{B}^0$ mesons ($b\bar{d}$).

This project will provide the opportunity to analyse data recorded by the BaBar experiment. This will be a good introduction to present day particle physics detectors, and to the computing software that is used in data analysis.

There are over a hundred decay modes of the $B$ meson, many of which are very poorly known from previous experiments. The aim of the project will be to attempt to find a signal for one of these decay modes and compare it with previous measurements (if any). The decay mode chosen will depend upon the quantity of data that is available at the time of the project. Some modes are now sensitive to direct CP violation.

References:

• B decays, 2nd edition, ed. Sheldon Stone (World Scientific, 1994)
• BaBar Physics Book, available on the web. This text provides a general low-key introduction to the context of this project.
• The PPE group's BaBar webpage