Fundamentals of LHC Experiments

TL;DR

This paper reviews the design, physics goals, and data interpretation methods of LHC experiments, highlighting challenges in searching for new physics beyond the Standard Model at the TeV energy scale.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of LHC experimental principles, algorithms, and tools, with specific examples addressing challenges in discovering new physics.

Findings

Discussion of accelerator and detector design principles

Introduction of data analysis algorithms and tools

Examples of challenges in new physics searches

Abstract

Experiments on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN represent our furthest excursion yet along the energy frontier of particle physics. The goal of probing physical processes at the TeV energy scale puts strict requirements on the performance of accelerator and experiment, dictating the awe-inspiring dimensions of both. These notes, based on a set of five lectures given at the 2010 Theoretical Advanced Studies Institute in Boulder, Colorado, not only review the physics considered as part of the accelerator and experiment design, but also introduce algorithms and tools used to interpret experimental results in terms of theoretical models. The search for new physics beyond the Standard Model presents many new challenges, a few of which are addressed in specific examples.