The experimental
high energy program at LSU started in 1979. In our first experiment,
we studied electron-positron collisions at the Cornell Electron Storage
Ring(CESR). The experiment provided important information on the
properties of the b quark by studying the upsilon resonances which are
3S
bound states of a b quark and an anti-b quark. The experimental
high-energy group subsequently participated in the AMY experiment at the
TRISTAN electron-positron storage ring in Japan and the ZEUS experiment
at the HERA electron-proton collider in Germany. Presently, Dr. McNeil
is participating in the L3 experiment at the LEP electron-positron collider
at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. Recent upgrades to
the LEP accelerator have allowed it to operate in a previously unexplored
energy region. It is thus an exciting place to search for possible
new particles and phenomena. The L3 detector has great potential
for physics discovery with its excellent resolution in gamma, e, and mu
measurements. LEP is also a good place to study electro-weak interactions,
QCD, and gg interactions at high energy. Data taking in the new energy
regime began in November 1995 and will continue until Fall 2000.
Professors Imlay
and Metcalf have played a major role on the LSND neutrino experiment at
the LAMPF facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. This experiment
is primarily a search for neutrino oscillations. However, it has
also contributed significantly to our knowledge of low energy neutrino
cross-sections. In fact, the first published result from the experiment,
on the numu12C cross-section near threshold, indicated
a major discrepancy with existing theoretical models and has led to a lot
of recent work on the process. By far the most exciting result of
LSND to date is the evidence it has found for neutrino oscillations.
This signal has persisted through six years of data-taking and is clearly
not a statistical fluctuation nor a cosmic-ray background. If subsequent
work confirms that it is indeed due to neutrino oscillations, it will have
profound implications not only for the standard model of particle physics
but also for many areas of astrophysics. In December 1998, LSND stopped
taking data and is now finishing up its analyses of neutrino cross-sections
and possible neutrino oscillations.
The experimental
high energy group is also involved in experiments that are in the design
and/or construction phase.
Current Experiments