The Standard Model is a very successful way to describe what is going on within protons and neutrons, and it has been studied and verified with particle accelerators for many years. However, it does not explain everything, so physicists are working to extend this model and make it more complete.

Supersymmetry is a very attractive way to extend the Standard Model. It posits that each “ordinary” particle has a “supersymmetric” partner. For example, the electron has a supersymmetric partner called the selectron. One of the goals of the Large Hadron Collider (the highest energy particle accelerator in the world) in Geneva Switzerland is to test theories of supersymmetry.

When two protons collide head on in the Large Hadron Collider, they produce hundreds of particles which leave tracks in the detector. Unfortunately, tracks can also be made by “beam- halo” particles, which do not originate from the collision, but are a part of the background noise of the accelerated beams. Isvari conducted research with the help of Richard Cavanaugh, Joseph Incadela, Seema Sharma, Frank Chlebana, and quite a few other people. She developed a technique to eliminate these beam-halo events so that study can be conducted specifically on tracks that are created in proton-proton collisions. You can find her presentation below.

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