To: All QuarkNet collaborators
From: Tom Jordan
Date: 18 July 2011
Re: Testing and analysis of early data
As you know, CMS has been actively collecting data from early running of the LHC. Even though the luminosity and center-of-mass energy are still below full capacity, we still have many unique opportunities.
We have called this summer meeting in order to look at several triggers and energy ranges extant in our data sample. We wonder if the detector's systems are all cooperating to reveal particles that we already understand well. Some call this a calibration of the detector and its systems. New physics can only come from a detector that can confirm results of earlier experiments.
Each of your six working groups will receive different data. Your group will reconstruct the events in your data and discern as much information as possible. Do your mass plots show a bump? Is there a net charge? What else do you see? You will present these descriptions and your process of discernment in a poster session at the Friday afternoon all-hands conference.
You will refer to the project milestones as you work. Your team should request a milestone seminar when you are ready.
Finally, you should take a look at the resource library. It provides links to resources on the following topics: relationships among energy, momentum and mass, conservation laws, and the behavior of charged particles in magnetic fields. The resources will provide helpful hints and reminders about what the CMS data represent and how to analyze them.
Best regards,
Tom