Quark Net - Masterclass

Masterclass

In 2007, QuarkNet first piloted U.S. Masterclasses, modeled on a program offered by EPPOG and studying Large Electron-Positron Collider-era CERN data. Masterclasses are one-day national events in which teams of students visit a university or research center to gain insight into topics and methods of particle physics. During the day students:

• Attend lectures on the Standard Model and learn how to analyze events.

• Analyze 1,000 events from various particle physics experiments, which historically have included DELPHI and OPAL from the LEP project, and CMS from the LHC project.

• Discuss results with four to six other student teams, videoconference moderated.

2007 was an analysis of electron-positron interactions at the DELPHI and OPAL detectors from the LEP experiments.

2008 was again a study of LEP data.

2009 was an analysis of simulated proton-proton collisions in the ATLAS detector. "Hidden" in the data was one single event which represented the expected signature from the Higgs Boson.

2010 was a return to LEP data.

2011 was the first year that data from the LHC were incorporated into the Masterclass; students analyzed CMS data to evaluate candidate events which may have produced the J/ψ meson.

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