Files in this item

FilesDescriptionFormat

application/pdf

James_Coggeshall.pdf (8MB)
(no description provided)PDF

Description

 Title: A search for Z' bosons in the dimuon decay channel in 8 TeV proton-proton collisions Author(s): Coggeshall, James Director of Research: Liss, Tony M. Doctoral Committee Chair(s): Errede, Steven M. Doctoral Committee Member(s): Liss, Tony M.; Cooper, S. Lance; El-Khadra, Aida X. Department / Program: Physics Discipline: Physics Degree Granting Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Degree: Ph.D. Genre: Dissertation Subject(s): Large Hadron Collider (LHC) European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Argonne Tandem Linear Accelerator System (ATLAS) Z' dilepton resonances muon resolution Abstract: In this thesis, I present a search for $Z'$ bosons in the $\mu^+\mu^-$ decay channel using 20 fb$^{-1}$ of $p$-$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV, produced during the 2012 run at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, using the ATLAS detector to record the collision products. The search proceeds via a comparison of the reconstructed dimuon invariant mass distribution with the expected distribution, given Standard Model only sources of background. In addition to the official'' ATLAS dimuon selection, I present a new dimuon selection, designed for this analysis, whose purpose is to increase the sensitivity of the search relative to the official selection. I observe no statistically significant deviation from the Standard Model expectation, and proceed to place new lower limits on the masses of $Z'$ bosons inspired by the $E_6$ Grand Unified Theory. Issue Date: 2013-08-22 URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45423 Rights Information: Copyright 2013 James Coggeshall Date Available in IDEALS: 2013-08-22 Date Deposited: 2013-08
﻿