Searches for new phenomena at the LHC: backgrounds and optimization
by
Lukas Vanelderen(UGent)
→
Europe/Brussels
CMS center (IIHE(ULB-VUB))
CMS center
IIHE(ULB-VUB)
VUB-building G- CMS center
Description
Hopes for a quick-and-easy discovery of new phenomena at the LHC are slowly fading away. However, desperation is not justified yet. Instead, this situation must be used as an opportunity to extract as much new information from the LHC data as possible. On the one hand, precise measurements of the Standard Model processes can provide important theoretical constraints on the new phenomena. These measurements also contribute to the understanding of the backgrounds of the searches for these new phenomena. I will present one such measurement at the Compact Muon Solenoid, a study of W and Z + jets production. On the other hand, the direct searches for new phenomena must be designed such to provide as much new information as possible, a far from trivial task. In this context, I will present a novel technique for the optimization of searches, based on Bayesian inference. Then I will apply it on a search for SUSY in LHC events with jets and b-jets.
