Research Interests

As an experimental particle physicist, my interests are to understand the fundamental constituents of matter and the interactions between them. Our current understanding is expressed in the Standard Model of particle physics -- a theory of the Strong, Electromagnetic and Weak interactions. This theory has been tested to high accuracy with great success. However, more fundamental questions are not answered by this theory. I would like to pursue experiments which test the limits of the Standard Model and explore theories which offer possible answers to those questions.

Current Projects

I am currently a member of the CDF (the Collider Detector at Fermilab) collaboration. Using proton-antiproton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 1.8 TeV, the highest energy currently available, the CDF experiment has been able to study the charged intermediate vector bosons (W+,W-), the top quark, bottom mesons, charm mesons, and their production mechanisms, and to search for new phenomena. I, along with two other faculty members at UC Berkeley and a mumber of staff members at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), am substantially involved in this experiment.

PHYSICS ANALYSIS: Currently the main focus of my research is a precise measurement of the W-boson mass using data taken in 1994 and 1995. This measurement, together with the top-quark mass measurement, is of central importance and (within the context of the Standard Model) provides a prediction of the mass of the Higgs boson - a particle occurring in the Standard Model which has yet to be discovered. In principle, very precise measurements of the W and top masses could even indicate physics beyond the Standard Model.

Further information can be found below :

Summary of electroweak results from the Tevatron

Summary of CDF electroweak analysis

Summary of the CDF W mass analyses

Summary of the CDF W,Z cross sections and W width analyses

HARDWARE UPGRADES: The CDF detector and the Fermilab Tevatron have been undergoing major upgrades, aimed toward a run in 2000. After a few years of running with the upgraded accelerator and detector, CDF is expected to have about 20 times the total data taken so far. The Berkeley/LBNL group has both software and hardware responsibilities for the upgrades. The main hardware responsibilities of the group involve designing and constructing a new silicon vertex detector and a new drift tracking chamber(COT). The COT, which allows the momentum of a charge particle to be measured with high rate capability and good resolution, is my hardware project for the upgrade.

the COT Can











a Drift Cell












Pictures taken during Field Sheet Production at LBNL

Glueing














just before moving to the expoxy-curing shelf




















Installation of field sheets to the COT can













Further information can be found below :

Summary of COT Involvement at Berkeley

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