A collaboration between the University of Twente, two other Dutch Universities and the National Institute for Subatomic Physics (Nikhef) receives an ENW-Groot grant of 2.9 million euros to further research the famous Higgs Boson with the ATLAS detector as announced by science funder NWO today.
Theoretically, the Higgs particle is still surrounded with a lot of questions. For example, it is not certain that the particle is exactly what theorists predicted within the standard model. Perhaps the simplest models are not sufficient, which may even indicate unknown physical phenomena.
New techniques
UT researcher Prof.dr. Bob van Eijk: “An important prediction of the Higgs mechanism in the Standard model is that a Higgs Boson can split into two other Higgs Bosons. The chance of observing such an event in a particle accelerator such as the Large Hadron Collider is extremely small. The new techniques that the consortium is developing to determine the properties of the Higgs Boson more precisely offer possibilities to determine this ‘self-coupling’ indirectly as well.”
Professor van Eijk will work alongside physicists of Nikhef, the University of Amsterdam, Radboud University Nijmegen on the Higgs project to develop these new techniques. They are all involved in the ATLAS experiment at the largest particle accelerator of the world, the Large Hadron Collider at Cern in Geneva, Switzerland. The research programme lasts five years and receives over 2.9 million euros. That money will mainly be used to appoint young researchers and post-docs.
Prof.dr. Bob van Eijk
Bob van Eijk is a professor in High Energy in the research group Energy Materials and Systems (Faculty TNW). In addition to his work at the UT, he is also researching the smallest particles of our universe at Nikhef.
Applicants
The research programme honoured by NWO has the following applicants: PI W. Verkerke (Nikhef & UvA). Co-applicants: I. van Vulpen (UvA), H. Snoek (UvA), T. du Pree (Nikhef), P. Kluit (Nikhef), P. Ferrari (Nikhef), B. van Eijk (Twente), F. Filthaut (Nijmegen) & N. de Groot (Nijmegen).
