3rd LHC Olympic Workshop
Coordinators: Nima Arkani-Hamed, Gian F. Giudice, Gordon L. Kane, Matthew J. Strassler, Herman Louis Verlinde
The LHC Olympics is a collective effort
by high-energy theorists to train themselves
in establishing a correspondence between theoretical models and
experimental signatures, and to develop more efficient methods
employing inclusive
signatures, using simulation of collider data. This is done by
developing and
distributing user-friendly versions of existing simulation and data
analysis tools, and via a series of black box data exercises, in which
theorists are challenged to disentangle mock LHC data sets. The LHCO
workshop aims to bring together experimenters, experts on Monte Carlo
tools, and theorists with widely varying levels of expertise in
collider
physics. The program consist of instructive talks by experts,
discussions between theorists and experimenters, and reports by
participants on their progress in deciphering the black box data
sets. Participants in past workshops (in July 2005 and February
2006, both at CERN) have included string theorists, model builders, and
collider physics experts; graduate students,
postdocs, and faculty have attended and given talks. We hope for
a similarly diverse audience at the KITP.
The two mornings at the workshop will be taken by invited pedagogical lectures and discussion. The two afternoons will be devoted to reports on the black box excercise, and discussions on topics of interest (perhaps including the inclusion of standard model backgrounds in black box data sets, the effect of different jet definitions on data, etc.) A tentative program can cuurently be found here.
We encourage all interested potential attendees to visit the LHC Olympics webpage. Also, many attendees may wish to get involved in understanding the black box data sets, of which there are currently two (one easy, one moderately challenging.) These do not contain standard model background; however, a third black box containing standard model background is in the works (stay tuned!) The LHC Olympics Wiki (which you can access from the black box data set page) can help participants get started; it contains both practical information and a considerable amout of pedagogical information about how hadronic colliders really work. It also contains places for participants to ask questions, and to report on their experiences and difficulties engaging with the data sets..
Please note: registration for this workshop is completely separate from registration for either the String Phenomenology program or its associated conference, and financial arrangements and lodging arrangements must be made separately. Note that registering well in advance is highly advisable, as it making the associated hotel reservation! Lodging can be very hard to find in August.
The two mornings at the workshop will be taken by invited pedagogical lectures and discussion. The two afternoons will be devoted to reports on the black box excercise, and discussions on topics of interest (perhaps including the inclusion of standard model backgrounds in black box data sets, the effect of different jet definitions on data, etc.) A tentative program can cuurently be found here.
We encourage all interested potential attendees to visit the LHC Olympics webpage. Also, many attendees may wish to get involved in understanding the black box data sets, of which there are currently two (one easy, one moderately challenging.) These do not contain standard model background; however, a third black box containing standard model background is in the works (stay tuned!) The LHC Olympics Wiki (which you can access from the black box data set page) can help participants get started; it contains both practical information and a considerable amout of pedagogical information about how hadronic colliders really work. It also contains places for participants to ask questions, and to report on their experiences and difficulties engaging with the data sets..
Please note: registration for this workshop is completely separate from registration for either the String Phenomenology program or its associated conference, and financial arrangements and lodging arrangements must be made separately. Note that registering well in advance is highly advisable, as it making the associated hotel reservation! Lodging can be very hard to find in August.